This black soil : a story of resistance and rebirth

This gripping feature-length film documents a poor, isolated and uneducated community as they protest and defeat a bill that will allow construction of a maximum security prison in their neighborhood. Motivated by their ability to effectively orate and organize, community leaders unwaveringly form a non-profit organization, and secure $10 million in grants from federal, state and public agencies to purchase land, uplift living standards and rid deplorable environmental conditions.

Bayview, Virginia, located on the Southern end of the DelMar Peninsula, is a community polarized by class, economics, and race. Director Teresa Konechne, a long-time social activist, along with assistance from an advanced video class at Virginia Commonwealth University, chronicles the social activism of Bayview residents as they challenge the system in order to achieve a fundamental quality of life for all generations.

The filmmaker symbolically inserts environmental vocabulary such as the land, breaking ground, drought, erosion, seedlings, plot, cultivate, storm, furrow, weeds, forecast, harvest, the land, to represent a chronological sequence of events reflective of Bayview’s circulatory path to land ownership. The language serves to mirror Bayview’s history of initial land ownership, victory, loss, struggles and obstacles, and the eventual return of the land to its residents - a land that has been cultivated by its African American residents for over 300 hundred years.

Filmed over a period of nearly ten years (1994-2003), a once flourishing African American farming and fishing community is choked by several major events. By 1994, new technology and machinery replaces manual labor thus forcing factories to close; residents are displaced to seek employment elsewhere; the annual income drops to approximately $6,436 per person; and Virginia's Republican Governor Allen adopts a “no parole” policy and vows to build 26 new prisons. Allen proposes a bill to build a maximum security prison on 108 acres in the middle of Bayview’s poorest African American community. He promises Bayview residents a job with an annual income of $17,000 to assuage Bayview’s economic slump. Consequently, and surprisingly to state officials, residents immediately react and adopt a “no prison” policy. Over the course of a year, they lobby neighboring counties, seek assistance from community planners, research the effects of prisons on families and rehabilitation, write and adopt a plan, and are given a voice in the Richmond legislature. Bayview residents may appear to be an unlikely advocacy group, but they are prepared with research data and victoriously defeat the prison bill.

After the victory, Bayview leaders do not to rest on their laurels. Filled with determination, hope and inspiration, residents tackle living and environmental issues. Nearly 85% of Bayview residents live in one-room shacks without indoor plumbing, heat, or running water. Rampant garbage on the streets, raw sewage, and a toxic unsanitary water system are a way of life for many residents.

Fortunately, by 1998, a meeting with the NAACP prompts The Washington Post to make Bayview’s problem a global issue. The article sparks interest from numerous federal, state and local community planners, as well as approval to qualify for land grants. However, funding agencies begin to doubt Bayview’s ability to take ownership of the 108 acres previously slated for the maximum security prison. Politicians fear Bayview will be unable to control its own destiny. Fortunately, this attitude does not deter the leaders of Bayview Citizens for Social Justice, a non-profit organization formed to build community planning and foster strong leadership. After four long years of waiting, in June 2002, permission is granted to release the funds to rebuild a new community which includes the development of a new waste water system, 32 improved and affordable housing units with modern accommodations, a community center to educate its residents, a daycare center, laundromat, hair salon. Most significant is a community barn and farm which serves multiple purposes - to provide jobs and income, and to give back residents a sense of ownership as they once again cultivate the land.

this black soil is unique in that the filmmaker is able to document a decade-long process of American activism at the grassroots level. It serves as a motivational and inspirational story for all social activists. The audio is clear and the quality of the video appears to have been shot using a digital video camera, incorporating archival footage from the early 1990s.

this black soil is highly recommended for students in American, African American and environmental studies. Other recommended films of this genre include Razing Appalachia and Store Wars, both available from Bullfrog Films.

Awards

• Director's Citation, Black Maria Festival
• Bronze Plaque, Columbus International Film & Video Festival