Nobody Knows Film On Documentary Channel And Byu On 2/21&23

[Calm]

Placing it in this forum for maximum viewing. Set your DVDs:

The Documentary Channel will show Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons on February 21st, 2012, as part of "the Best of Black Documentary Cinema" celebration. The Documentary Channel is available through Dish or Satellite. Check local listings for time. To find out more about the selection of Nobody Knows, take a look at the full press release.

Brigham Young University will show the documentary in the Harold B. Lee Library auditorium on February 23, 2012 as part of Black History month.

Darius Gray and Margaret Young will participate in a genealogy seminar in southern Georgia on March 3rd. Details forthcoming.

http://blackmormonfilm.com/news.html

add-on since it appears some are unfamiliar with this:

Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons is an award-winning documentary about African American Latter-day Saints. The project is headed by Margaret Blair Young and Darius Aidan Gray, authors of three books and many scholarly articles about Black Mormons.

Editor James B. Hughes spent the last years of his life working on this film, and often donated his services because of his passion for the project. He died of brain cancer in 2011. Danor Gerald also edited the film, and appears in it. Interviews were conducted and filmed by Richard Dutcher, Alex Nibley, and Scott Freebairn.

Few people, Mormon and non-Mormon, are aware that there has been an African American presence in the LDS Church from its earliest days, that the vanguard company of Mormon pioneers included three “colored servants” (slaves), and that subsequent pioneer companies included both freeborn Blacks (such as Jane Manning and Isaac James) and enslaved Blacks, such as Biddy Smith Mason and Elizabeth Flake. This documentary talks about that little-known legacy, and confronts the hard issues which surfaced in the most turbulent years of the Civil Rights Movement, when the Church continued to restrict its priesthood from those of African descent (a policy put into place in 1852). It discusses the context for that restriction, and how it was finally lifted. It also addresses the challenges of modern Black Mormon pioneers.

Besides never-released footage shot in 1968 and many rare archival photographs, the documentary includes interviews with renowned scholars, historians, Black Mormons, with Martin Luther King III, and with Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray, retired pastor of the First AME Church of Los Angeles, which was founded by a former slave of Mormon pioneers.

Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons is currently under contract with the Documentary Channel, which shows the 56:40 version of the film monthly. The full version (directors’ cut) is seventy-two minutes. In addition, the DVD includes one hundred minutes of special features, including more interviews and important "untold stories."

http://blackmormonfilm.com/index.html

Edited February 19, 2012 by calmoriah

[altersteve]

It sounds like the name of an anti-Mormon film, but I guess it's good if BYU is showing it. I'll check it out.

[Calm]

It is so not an anti-mormon film. The use of "untold" is simply referring to the lack of prior public documentation and telling of the story, not an 'exposing the hidden underbelly' thing. You must see it if you are at all interested in the experience of black LDS.

[Calm]

Darius Aidan Gray

Darius Aidan Gray, whose grandfather was born a slave in Missouri, joined the Mormon Church in 1964—before the priesthood restriction was lifted. He lived in Utah during the difficult 1960's and worked as a television news reporter. He comes to this project with first-hand experience of what it's like to be a Black Mormon, and what it's like to be the only African American student at a Mormon university. He is trained as a journalist and is also an award-winning author and an expert on African American family history. Mr. Gray was the LDS Church spokesman when the Freedman Bank CD (a genealogical resource for African Americans) was released to the public. In that capacity, he was interviewed by CNN and many national newspapers and television stations. Until recently, he presided over the Genesis Group, founded in 1971 to support Latter-day Saints of African descent. He has served in administrative positions for several PBS stations, and was one of the producers for the PBS series Ancestors. Currently, he is a frequent lecturer on Black history and genealogy, and contributes to the Black Voices section of the Huffington Post.

Margaret Blair Young

Margaret Blair Young is the president of the Association for Mormon Letters and has published eight books—six novels and two short story collections. Three of the novels were co-authored with Darius Gray and give the history (documented) of Black Latter-day Saints. Besides writing and co-producing/directing Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons, she and Gray helped produce a small documentary about Jane Manning James. Young was also the project head for a documentary titled The Wisdom of Our Years, which featured the stories of elderly Blacks in Utah, who had seen history in the making before and beyond the Civil Rights Movement. Young has written six encyclopedia articles and other scholarly papers on Blacks in the western United States, and particularly Black Mormons. She teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University.

http://blackmormonfilm.com/bios.html

PS: don't have a clue why the sizing difference for the photos, they are the same size on the website.

Edited February 19, 2012 by calmoriah

[Calm]

Added info about the film to the first post since at least one person appears unfamiliar with it.

[DavidC]

This is a great documentary. I purchased the DVD when it first came out, and have watched it multiple times.

[blooit]

Brother Gray is an absolute stud! This will be an incredible film! Can't wait.

[Madmardigan]

I caught this a few months back on the documentary channel. It was my first introduction to Darius Gray. That man has an incredible testimony.

[Calm]

I caught this a few months back on the documentary channel. It was my first introduction to Darius Gray. That man has an incredible testimony.

Very sweet man. One of those people with whom it is so easy to feel at home with. Good man, good heart.

[cdowis]

It would be nice if it could be viewed on KBYU Tv

[Calm]

Maybe a writing campaign?

On second thought, I think the Doc Channel has an agreement for it to be shown on there, so they may have to wait until that expires to show on TV.

Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons is currently under contract with the Documentary Channel, which shows the 56:40 version of the film monthly. The full version (directors’ cut) is seventy-two minutes. In addition, the DVD includes one hundred minutes of special features, including more interviews and important "untold stories."

Edited February 19, 2012 by calmoriah

[cinepro]

Didn't this DVD come out years ago? You would think by now it would be titled "Some People Know: The Recently Told Story of Black Mormons."

Edited February 20, 2012 by cinepro

[Calm]

2007: http://mormonlit.byu....php?w_id=26902

Perhaps the shorter version for the Doc channel is a recent appearance, like Lucas reissuing another Star Wars edition.

No matter what its age, it is worth it to see it.

Edited February 21, 2012 by calmoriah