The Clear Redline (TRAILER) Documentary

Trailer for the FIRST EPISODE of docu-series named ‘The Clear Redline’.
This is a story about how Richmond was divided by design and is still to this present day.
Looking through the lens of someone who lives in a local project housing program, we will see how these places and people suffer still.
The reason why this matters: Redlining and other Jim Crow Era policies have ripped apart communities across the United States, leaving mostly African American families left with inherited debt, leaving the culture to start at a place lower than zero. Anti-Racist work needs to be done - to undo what has been engrained and imprinted within our society. ‘The Clear Redline’ unearths and shines a light onto something that everyone can see, and leads you to a mental space of “This cannot go on.”
I produced, filmed, and edited this primarily to gain a better understanding of my hometown and its deep rooted issues, and why it is the way that it is. Secondarily, this was my final project for my degree in Mass Communications at VCU.
RELEASE DATE FOR FULL PROJECT - TBA
Episode 2 ‘The Hood is On Fire: Zipcode Climate’ is currently in between post and principal production.
Special thanks to:
@ronbandup Ronbandup - Bro, I literally couldn’t have done this project without you man. thanks for allowing me to step into your world and document it for the world to see.
@thevalentinerva Bill Martin & The Valentine Museum - Thanks Bill & Brent!!!! Your extreme knowledge about Richmond, its history, and how it came to be - all was integral in providing expert perspective on the city, and keeping it real about how we got here. Thanks for being you, Bill!
@garylflowers Gary Flowers - Gary, your personal connection with Jackson Ward and the immense care and passion you have for the neighborhood itself provided a well-needed layer of intimate seriousness that the Redlining issue and this documentary needed. Thank you, greatly, for the work you do for your community and allowing me to talk to you about it.
@urichmond Robert Nelson & The Digital Scholarship Lab of University of Richmond - I mean this when I say it, without the work that you all have done at the Digital Scholarship Lab, I would have no wherewithal to even begin thinking about this project. My Sophomore year at VCU, I wrote a 15 page essay about redlining using mostly y’alls research and it blew my mind open to what is around me. Something led you and your colleagues to start deep research on the maps themselves, which provided a playground for other reseachers to build off of, so seriously thank you tremendously.
Valerie Coaley - My god, thank you so much Valerie. Your insight into the psyche of people who live in these conditions as well as your efforts to enlighten and provide upward movement to the African American Community in Richmond was extremely important for me to include within this piece. The passion that you showed me during our interview put a layer of certainty underneath my intentions, and I appreciate you for that.
@homeofva Regina Chaney & HOME of VA - Thanks to you, Regina, there is even more of a tangible way for people to either get out of the situation that these generational policies have put them in. The work you all are doing at HOME is not to be overlooked. Thank you again, for helping those in need in this City, and allowing me to speak to you about it.
Savani Rieger - Thank you for being my rock, and continuing to be by my side through what turned out to be an extremely stressful semester. I could not have done this or be who I am without you, Savani.
Devin Reed - THE DUDE!!!! You already know bro, thanks for having my back my dude. Not on one occasion but overall, I appreciate you being there and believing in me man.
Ashesh Sigdel - ASH! thanks for taking time out of your schedule our senior semester at VCU to take some drone shots for me. They certainly help elevate this piece to a level of professionalism that I think it deserves.
@vcurobertsonschool Krista Alexander - Ms. Alexander, sincerely thank you for believing in me through the years at VCU. I wouldn’t have thought I was capable of doing something of this magnitude and importance without taking your courses and having your guidance through perfecting my craft.
Richmond City - For being a real-life environment (with scars and imperfections), fostering people, art, and ways of thinking that will continue to carry us through the future and grow closer to ‘good’. Thanks for being my hometown.
Thank you to everyone around me that helped me through this process.
Full project soon

[@hootop85]

Looking fwd to this doc!