Global Blackness Summer School ‘22 / Black Geographies, of Care
#6 “Four Days in May: Kingston 2010” / Conversation & Screening with Deborah A. Thomas (in-person)
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Join us at the Library of things we forgot to remember (44 Stanley Avenue) for this in-person screening of Four Days in May: Kingston 2010, an experimental documentary by directors Deborah A. Thomas, Deanne M. Bell, and Junior “Gabu” Wedderburn. Deborah will introduce the film, and following the screening will engage in conversation with Victoria Collis-Buthelezi, reflecting on questions of intimacy, access, geography and a Black feminist rethinking of witness.
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“Four Day in May: Kingston 2010” / 40 minutes (English, Jamaican Patois)
A collaboration between anthropologist and filmmaker Deborah A. Thomas, musician and composer Junior “Gabu” Wedderburn, and psychologist Deanne M. Bell, this experimental documentary explores the archives generated by state violence by focusing on the 2010 State of Emergency in West Kingston, Jamaica. In May of that year, the military and police force entered Tivoli Gardens and surrounding communities by force in order to apprehend Christopher “Dudus” Coke, who had been ordered for extradition to the United States to stand trial for gun and drug-related charges. This resulted in the deaths of at least 75 civilians. The film features community residents talking about what they experienced during the “incursion,” and naming and memorializing loved ones they lost. Through the use of archival film and photographs, footage from the U.S. drone that was overhead during the operation, and contemporary hyper-realist film photography of the “garrison” of Tivoli Gardens, it encourages viewers to think about how people negotiate the entanglements among nationalist governments, imperialist practices, and local articulations with illicit international trades. It also seeks to catalyze discussions about how we might envision modes of accountability, justice, and repair.
Click here for Deborah A. Thomas’ bio