Dear Susan, Dear Susan, Like you, Newsreel has felt the need to update "Ethnic Notions" almost since its release in 1987. To that end,, we collaborated with Marlon Riggs to produce both "Color Adjustment" which brought the story up to 1990 and "Black Is...Black Ain't," a more introspective examination of myths of black identity, released in 1994, the year of his death.
The first part of "Race - The Power of an Illusion," 2004, was designed as a historic overview of the social construction of race. "What's Race Got to Do with It?" 2006, looked at racial attitudes on a then-contemporary college campus. As you rightly observe, most of the releases over the past two decades have addressed more specific examples of racial stereotyping. For example, Newsreel has just acquired "White Scripts and Black Supermen: Black Masculinities in Comic Books." Future African American Production The 314 respondents to our survey of high-volume, institutional users of African American documentary conducted last year, expressed a clear desire for an update along the lines of "Ethnic Notions;" more than half, in fact, said they would "definitely use" a film on the "Myth of the Post-Racial Society" in their classes or organizations. This was second only to "The Criminalization of Black Youth" in topics respondents labeled as "urgently needed. We have sent these and other findings from our 30 question needs assessment to the major backers of African American documentary, ITVS, PBS, the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation and HBO, but none have acknowledged receipt. It is our suspicion that they may have resented statistics on the media desires of their constituents as an incursion on their legerdemain to decide what films get made. Therefore Newsreel has decided to try to produce these films ourselves or to spur their production by others. Thanks for your continued use of what has probably been the most widely used title in our 43 year history. Best Wishes, Larry, for California Newsreel -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2011 7:59 PM To: [email protected] Subject: videolib Digest, Vol 46, Issue 11 Send videolib mailing list submissions to [email protected] To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://calmail.berkeley.edu/manage/list/listinfo/[email protected] y.edu or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to [email protected] You can reach the person managing the list at [email protected] When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of videolib digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Ethnic Notions-esque film? (Lisa Abbott) 2. Re: Ethnic Notions-esque film? (Dina Robinson) 3. Re: Ethnic Notions-esque film? (Randal Baier) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 13:22:57 -0700 From: Lisa Abbott <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Videolib] Ethnic Notions-esque film? To: [email protected] Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Susan, You might consider our film Mirrors of Privilege for this purpose. White interviewees share their stories of learned and internalized stereotypes of people of color. Contains some historical context as well. http://world-trust.org/mirrors-of-privilege-making-whiteness-visible/ Lisa Lisa Abbott Associate Director World Trust Educational Services Social Impact through Film & Dialogue 510-333-9325 skype: lmabbott www.world-trust.org > > Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 19:43:43 +0000 > From: Susan Albrecht <[email protected]> > Subject: [Videolib] Ethnic Notions-esque film? > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > Message-ID: > <eb1e4106a574f649aeed38d97d0273bc66b25...@ex2010mailstore.wabash.main> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Like many of you, our copy of Ethnic Notions has gotten a lot of use over the years. In fact, I've just upgraded to DVD from VHS since it's still getting used frequently. But here's a question from a prof who uses it often: since Ethnic Notions is a 1987 production, while it's great at both providing examples of stereotyping of African-Americans and a historical overview of those stereotypes, it does... well... stop in 1987. Have others of you found something comparable that is more current? > > We have MEF's Dreamworlds 3, MEF's Stuart Hall and Tim Wise offerings, California Newsreel's Black Is... Black Ain't, and scores of other titles which deal with race, but they often seem to focus on one particular aspect of culture (music, sport, etc.) or lack the historic overview by focusing on one time period. We'd love to know if there's something quite similar to Ethnic Notions in speaking *both* to stereotypes/caricatures of African Americans *and* to the historical context. > > Lawrence, anything in the works from Newsreel itself by way of an update or supplement to Ethnic Notions? > > Susan Albrecht > > Susan Albrecht > Library Acquisitions Manager > Wabash College Lilly Library > 765-361-6216 > 765-361-6295 fax > > ******************************************************************* > "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." --Neil Peart > ******************************************************************* > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment scrubbed and removed. > HTML attachments are only available in MIME digests. > > End of videolib Digest, Vol 46, Issue 10 > **************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment scrubbed and removed. HTML attachments are only available in MIME digests. ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 13:21:34 -0700 From: "Dina Robinson" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Videolib] Ethnic Notions-esque film? To: <[email protected]> Cc: Cornelius Moore <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I'm not sure if Cornelius is on VideoLib but I will defer to him, he is the Ethnic Notions expert! Dina Robinson California Newsreel 500 Third Street, #505 San Francisco, CA 94107 Phone: 415.284.7800 x301 Fax: 415.284.7801 [email protected] <blocked::mailto:[email protected]> http://www.newsreel.org <http://www.newsreel.org/> California Newsreel is the oldest non-profit, social issue documentary film distribution center in the country and a leading resource for the advancement of racial and social justice. Visit our website at: www.newsreel.org and sign up for our e-newsletter at: http://www.newsreel.org/nav/emaillist.asp ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Susan Albrecht Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2011 12:44 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Videolib] Ethnic Notions-esque film? Like many of you, our copy of Ethnic Notions has gotten a lot of use over the years. In fact, I've just upgraded to DVD from VHS since it's still getting used frequently. But here's a question from a prof who uses it often: since Ethnic Notions is a 1987 production, while it's great at both providing examples of stereotyping of African-Americans and a historical overview of those stereotypes, it does... well... stop in 1987. Have others of you found something comparable that is more current? We have MEF's Dreamworlds 3, MEF's Stuart Hall and Tim Wise offerings, California Newsreel's Black Is... Black Ain't, and scores of other titles which deal with race, but they often seem to focus on one particular aspect of culture (music, sport, etc.) or lack the historic overview by focusing on one time period. We'd love to know if there's something quite similar to Ethnic Notions in speaking *both* to stereotypes/caricatures of African Americans *and* to the historical context. Lawrence, anything in the works from Newsreel itself by way of an update or supplement to Ethnic Notions? Susan Albrecht Susan Albrecht Library Acquisitions Manager Wabash College Lilly Library 765-361-6216 765-361-6295 fax ******************************************************************* "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." --Neil Peart ******************************************************************* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment scrubbed and removed. HTML attachments are only available in MIME digests. ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 22:53:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Randal Baier <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Videolib] Ethnic Notions-esque film? To: [email protected] Message-ID: <380703643.1749761.1315450390534.JavaMail.root@emu-sfpop-mailstore08> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" We've had 270 viewings since March 2009. On VHS. Hmm, that's not bad, eh? Needs an update, but it certainly holds validity as some of those "notions" just don't go away. We also have Dreamworlds3 (70), Marlon Riggs "Black Is ..." (45), Stuart Hall "Race" (10), and Tim Wise "Pathology of privilege" (22 since Jan 2011) -- viewings in roughly the same period. "The Blue-eyed" series is another that is used extensively. (155) Sorry, I can't resist: "And that's not all, for an extra $19.95 and PPR we'll add two sets each of Asia, Latino, LGBTGQx29, international adoption politics, and gender. Operators are standing by. If you respond within the next two hours, we'll also include "The Tea Party perspective." [Surcharges may apply] Randal Baier ************************************************************* I'll assume your lack of response is equivalent to tacit approval of this action. -24 ************************************************************* ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Albrecht" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, September 7, 2011 3:43:43 PM Subject: [Videolib] Ethnic Notions-esque film? Like many of you, our copy of Ethnic Notions has gotten a lot of use over the years. In fact, I?ve just upgraded to DVD from VHS since it?s still getting used frequently. But here?s a question from a prof who uses it often: since Ethnic Notions is a 1987 production, while it?s great at both providing examples of stereotyping of African-Americans and a historical overview of those stereotypes, it does? well? stop in 1987. Have others of you found something comparable that is more current? We have MEF?s Dreamworlds 3, MEF?s Stuart Hall and Tim Wise offerings, California Newsreel?s Black Is? Black Ain?t, and scores of other titles which deal with race, but they often seem to focus on one particular aspect of culture (music, sport, etc.) or lack the historic overview by focusing on one time period. We?d love to know if there?s something quite similar to Ethnic Notions in speaking * both * to stereotypes/caricatures of African Americans * and * to the historical context. Lawrence, anything in the works from Newsreel itself by way of an update or supplement to Ethnic Notions? Susan Albrecht Susan Albrecht Library Acquisitions Manager Wabash College Lilly Library 765-361-6216 765-361-6295 fax ******************************************************************* "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." -- Neil Peart ******************************************************************* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment scrubbed and removed. HTML attachments are only available in MIME digests. End of videolib Digest, Vol 46, Issue 11 **************************************** VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
