Promoting diversity & awareness with yes cinema

In September of 2020 the African American Fund of Bartholomew and supporting community sponsors launched a virtual film series in an effort to create and continue awareness and dialogue around the questions of diversity, equity and social justice in the Columbus community. The documentaries THE FIGHT and GOOD TROUBLE began that discussion. Subsequent 2021 documentaries included RACE: THE POWER OF AN ILLUSION and PERIOD: END OF SENTENCE. The first respectively challenged the idea of race as biology based on inaccurate 19th century allegations. For International Women’s Day, we learned about a project of empowerment for girls and women in India leading to enhanced educational and entrepreneurial opportunities. Both films highlighted panelists from local high schools and IUPUC.

In mid May we culminated the series with the Amplify Film Festival featuring a lineup of 8 films at YES Cinema. There were family friendly offerings and topics exploring ethnicity, faith, race, age and gender. A highlight of the festival included CROSSROAD STORIES produced and filmed by Alyce Tucker Bounds and Ryan Furr. This film examined growing up, living and working as a person of color in Columbus or any small midwestern community. The Film Festival was well received and planted seeds for continued openness and discussions.

Collaborators/Contributors: CAMEO, Council for Youth Development, First Presbyterian Church, Friends of Bartholomew County Library, IUPUC Sociology, The Granny Connection, The Heritage Fund of Bartholomew County, The Human Rights Commission, NAACP, Pride Alliance, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbus, YES Cinema.