Chico Colvard’s film is a self-described hybrid that blends straightforward documentary footage with some staged material and prepared dialogue to present an overall view of the import and enduring popularity of objects that relate to the era of slavery and racial stereotyping in America. Black Memorabilia touches on three aspects of the subject—manufacture, collection, and reclamation. The first involves both historical artifacts and newly-created objects, but much of the segment is devoted to a female ironworker in a remote Chinese village whose family produces hundreds of what are called "jolly [n-word] banks" for sale worldwide; she eventually becomes aware of how her work might add to racial strife. The second focuses on a woman with a private collection of racially-themed objects that she exhibits and trades at craft fairs; she is aware of their controversial nature but insists she is not motivated by bigotry but rather respect for the past. Finally, Colvard, a professor at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, turns to contemporary black artists who are reclaiming the stereotypes in their own work, thereby taking their power away from those who have used them for odious ends. One might find the employment of fiction-based devices troubling, especially in the Chinese section, but overall Black Memorabilia presents a thoughtful treatment of the role such items have played—and continue to play—in American culture. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)
Black Memorabilia
(2019) 60 min. DVD: $25: individuals; $195: institutions. C-LineFilms. PPR. Volume 34, Issue 3
Black Memorabilia
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