Last fall, Professor Chanequa Walker-Barnes taught a women's studies class on representations of black women's identities. A year later, that class has led to a course centered purely on black relationships and a new film series hosted by the Mary Lou Williams Center that
explores black romance and relationships.
The decision to add a film element came from a desire to see how topics are expressed in popular culture, specifically through film. Walker-Barnes contacted the Center with a list of films and Chandra Guin, director of the Mary Lou Williams Center, added some of her own picks to the list in preparation of the nine-film "On the Reel: Black Love and Relationships." Walker-Barnes said she is pleased with the collaboration.
"The Mary Lou has kind of taken ownership of the film series and enabled it to be something that opens up the topic to the entire Duke campus," she said.
Guin added that opening the series up for general viewing has allowed more students to see the films, which has led to richer class discussions.
Khadine McNeill, assistant director of the Center, said the program was conceived as a joint effort between Walker-Barnes and the Mary Lou. The weekly screenings were designed to be a relaxing setting where students from Walker-Barnes's class could view their assigned films and other students could join in the experience.
McNeill added that the series' theme worked well with the Mary Lou's goals for the year. In addition to encouraging more relationships with professors, she said it fit in with the center's year-long theme of "cultivating consciousness."
"[The series] allows students to see black experiences in a different way and open the floor to discussion to see if those things really happen," McNeill said. "The film series is a really great way of promoting our theme. So many students have not seen how the relationships work."
With comfortable couches and free snacks, the laid-back atmosphere allows a film to be viewed rather than analyzed. Students can come and go as they please.
"Usually one or two people linger after [to talk]," McNeill said.
The series includes a diverse set of films from historical dramas (The Color Purple) to urban dramas (Baby Boy); nevertheless, all relate back to the women's studies class.
"The students have been surprised at how much the issues [from class] are represented in the films. We turn off our thinking when we watch movies, and you don't realize the larger social messages you get by reading texts and then going to see the films," Walker-Barnes said. "It helps to make some of the topics more real when we talk about ideologies of race and gender."
Although McNeill said she is pleased with the general reaction of students attending the series, she said she is dissatisfied with the low attendance.
"I wish more people would come," McNeill said. "We have not had the numbers for this program I feel we should. The more that find out, the better. Hopefully, more interest will bring the numbers."
In spite of low attendance, students outside of Walker-Barnes's class have begun to discover the event. Sophomore Tiffany Gillis was one of the attendees at Tuesday's screening of The Color Purple and said she learned about the event from attending Jazz at the Mary Lou, a popular arts program offered by the center. Gillis said she appreciated the new film series but shared McNeill's sentiment concerning attendance.
"I think it's a good opportunity for black films to be shown," Gillis said. "I've come every Tuesday, but attendance is pretty bad. I think if more people knew about it, they would come."
In spite of the low attendance, Walker-Barnes is pleased with the series.
"I'm excited to see where it goes and how it unfolds."
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