Meaningful Movies Ballard presents Stamped from the Beginning – June 19

Our first Meaningful Movie reboot falls on Juneteenth, so we’re screening Stamped from the Beginning, the documentary adapted from Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s 2016 book of the same name. The film opens with a provocative question, “What is wrong with Black people?” You may feel the palpable discomfort of the puzzled commentators — among them historian Dr. Jennifer L. Morgan, Congresswoman Cori Bush, and sociologist Dr. Dorothy Roberts — as they consider the absurdity of the question.

Throughout the 90 minutes, you’ll see how such assertions were made throughout history, over time leading them to our embedded collective consciousness and the codification of these falsehoods throughout law and policy. Directed by Roger Ross Williams and executive produced by Dr. Kendi and Mara Brock Akil, Stamped from the Beginning unpacks the many myths insisting that Black people are somehow inferior, a myth that harms us all.

Joining us for our post-film discussion are members of the Coalition of Anti-Racist Whites(CARW) to talk about how white people can serve as allies in the fight against systemic racism.

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Join us every 3rd Thursday for documentary screenings on issues that help us sustain our community. Our next film, on July 17, will be Fish War.