THE FILM: The Neutral Ground documents New Orleans’ fight over monuments and America’s troubled romance with the Lost Cause. In 2015, director CJ Hunt was filming the New Orleans City Council’s vote to remove four confederate monuments. But when that removal is halted by lawsuits and death threats, CJ sets out to understand why a losing army from 1865 still holds so much power in America.

PARTICIPANTS

Abdul Aziz: War Photographer

Ashley Rogers & Dr. Ibrahima Seck: Whitney Plantation

C.J. Hunt: Filmmaker & Protagonist

Cecil J. Hunt II: C.J.’s Father

Christy Coleman and Karen Cox: Historians

Dread Scott: Artist (Slave Rebellion Reenactment Project)

Freddi Evans & Luther Gray: New Orleans Slave Marker Project

Freddie Williams Evans: Author, Scholar, Artist

Jason Williams: Former New Orleans City Council President

Michael “Quess” Moore & Malcolm Suber: Activists in Take ‘Em Down NOLA

Mitch Landrieu: Former Mayor of New Orleans (2010-2018)

Thomas Taylor: Louisiana Sons of Confederate Veterans

We have a duty to fight for our freedom. We have a duty to win. We must love and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.

Assata Shakur

KEY ISSUES:

The Neutral Ground is an excellent tool for outreach and will be of special interest to people who want to explore the following topics:

Racism, White Supremacy, Whiteness
Historical Memory, Mythology, and the cult of the Lost Cause
Identity and Political Consciousness
Education, History, and Power
Relationships between Symbols of Violence and Systems of Oppression
Whiteness and Violence
Resistance and Racial Justice Movements
Continued relevance of the past in contemporary movements for racial justice

Sources

About the author:

Ahmariah Jackson

Ahmariah Jackson is the Griot, nestled somewhere between the raucous ideology of Gil Scott Heron and the subtle subversion of James Baldwin. Words are his sword and shield. He views education as a noble revolution and values the holistic growth of students over any standardized assessment. He re-invented the poetry club and dubbed it “The Griot Circle” where he fosters empowerment through expression. He is an emcee and a devotee of Hip Hop as culture, movement and music and folds all his passions into his classroom.

Cora Davis

Cora Davis is a former militant, angry protester turned reconciler. Her life has been transformed by the principles of nonviolence that are the foundation of how she lives and interacts with others. She teaches middle school students that their voices matter by fighting for her own and she has created an effective after school (and weekend and lunch hour and anytime) club for the “at risk” students otherwise falling through the cracks of the system. She believes a willingness to look at ourselves first is the key to bringing unity to the hurting world around her and is now convinced we cannot fight hate if it is in us, no matter how justified it is.