Up some in peter voser registration drives in major cities where the film will open, and committing to create a classroom curriculum on nat turner, the literate slave and feature on whom the film is based. Set against the antebellum south, the birth of the nation follows nat turner and his uprising that hopes he hopes will lead his people to freedom. Of the most controversial americans in history, period. He was an enslaved creature in 1831. Listen to him and you might make it into heaven. He was farmed out by his master to preach to neighboring plantations. Submit yourselves to your masters in all respects, not only to those that are good and considerate, but also those that are harsh. This is a man who was say, if have to do something. God has spoken to me. Rise against evil. He was standing up for something that he believed in such a pure and authentic way. In that way, he was able to recruit a bunch of people. Nat turner let the most successful slave rebellion in the history of our country. He was able to do something that was seemingly impossible. Most people dont know nat turner, the history, the motivations. This film is doing enormously important work, bringing an historical narrative that eliminates what we are going through in america today. We dont imagine slaves to be heroes, so for the first time, i really understood what this man fight. Its important to know those parts of American History that we dont get to know that are crucial to our understanding of what america is. We harvested it in the abolition of slavery. Through desegregation, the civil rights movement, black lives matter, this revolutionary thought is what nat turner stood for. Relevant story, one that makes sense to discuss in 2016. We want to learn from our history, the past. I think this film will hopefully inside a conversation. I hope it encourages people to stand up against oppression and even against tremendous. Or this to be somebodys introduction to nat turner is will make you researcher nat turner is. This is a person who was tired of enslavement, who said enough is enough. That story should inspire all americans, not just black people in this country. This is an american film. Hopefully, what people will see is an american hero. Success with the aixa enemy of Motion Picture arts and sciences was another factor that sealed the deal. The studio has scored 13 best picture Oscar Nominations in the last 12 years and won three in the last 10. . Amazing sleep stays with you all day and all night. With sleep number, you choose the exact firmness and comfort you want and so does your partner for the best sleep ever. The columbus day sale is on now with the queen c4 mattress set only 1399. 98. Plus 24month financing. Karen welcome back. Orson welles did it, Warren Beatty did it, and down the parker joins a handful in Hollywood History that have managed to write, produce, direct, and star in a film. Even investing his own money. But just as his star was rising, controversy surrounding his involvement in a two decades old case in which parker was accused and acquitted of a College Campus rape. Social media outrage and calls to boycott the film followed. His initial response was not wellreceived but his ask of the moviegoing public is to judge the film on its own merit. Karen what drove you to tell the story of nat turner on film . The absence of information, my miseducation growing up. I learned about so many heroes, forefathers, american revolution, alexander hamilton, george washington, eli whitney, all of these heroic figures, but never learned about a man that letter revolution or the two miles west of where i grew up. One of learned about the story, what it did for my selfesteem, the fact that it added to the narrativ p intense sense of pride. As an artist, it got me to thinking, if more people can see not only his contributions but what he was fighting against in a real and authentic way, is that something that can inspire the conversation around Racial Justice in a way that is inclusive and not necessarily politically correct, but gets us engaged in who we are as america film with the help of so many people. My whole pitch in this thing was , this is something we can get to our children, and that can inspire the change we want to see in this country. Karen what does it say to you, the story of nat turner seems to have been dairy by those that write history in america . It says that there is obviously trauma that we are not willing toe. We are not proud of. That doesnt mean we need to shake the finger at america. We just need to uncover it and acknowledge it, and then we can move on. That is what healing requires. That is what we are seeing with this film. We screened this audience or audiences of all pigments. African american, european american, asian american. It feels like it is the same like there is an openness to this idea of what we can be. 10 years ago , when i was working on this thing, it felt like people were not open. You are an idealist, you are too optimistic. We will never see this type of change. I think people are starting to take responsibility for their own their own ecosystems. You are doing it with the journalism, im doing it with film. You have black lives matter, all of these social groups driven by young people. They are not falling for the pamphlet that leads everyone out. They are doing the research themselves. Karen you use the term taking responsibility, which gives me the opening to talk about the controversy following you recently. Nat turner. Is there a part of nate parkers history that you would want to rewrite . I will say this. I have addressed this a number of times, and im sure i will address it in different forms. I think this forum is for the film. Im not the only one that worked on the film. There are 400plus people that put their effort and energy into this. The proof of their work e response is what we continue to see, and that is that it seems to be more open to a Movement Even then a film. I wont take the credit from people saying i made the film a lot of people made the film. I think those people made it because they thought it was important and they contributed because they thought it would be i stand on that with them. Karen in the past, nat turner has been portrayed as a crazy person, as well as a black moses. You gave him a lot of texture. The goal was to humanize him. People can make give different ideas of what they think he may have been like, but we know he was a human being. We know, at the very core of our humanness, we want to be free. Right. To be a part of the system that puts you and people around you in bondage is something worth addressing. There are different types of bondage is, of the mind, and that is where you draw parallels with 2016 and 1831. My goal was to humanize him as a man of desperate faith, a man instrument of your hand, i cannot ignore the atrocities i see. Karen costarring with parker is asia naomi king. You may know her on how to get away with murder. In the birth of the nation, she plays a slave that nat turner believed to have married in the early 1820s. Good morning, nice to see you. Said that he really wanted you for this role in this movie. I attended the talkback that you did in marthas vineyard, and you told the whole story of how you got the role. Can you share that with us . Yes. Nate is so wonderful, did a skype session with me. We were trying to get in the finally we said, we will just skype to start. Just in that conversation alone, there was something there, the way we discussed the character, what we agreed on, what we thought was meaningful to bring across the screen with her. And what a wonderful opportunity as an actor to talk about a project, talk about a character with the director, writer, and real addition. By the time we finally got in the same room together this was months. He said he had to cancel rooms he had booked to see me three or four times because every time i could go she cannot go now because of work. When we finally got into the same room, there was already a apparent in that scene where nat turner comes into the room and sees you as cherry, his wife, on the bed after having been assaulted. You did that in one take . Yes. Karen what was that like . There was such a powerful feeling in the room already because the rest of the crew had seen me, but he hadnt. I could not see. I could not walk, it was hard to breathe, which fed the feeling. When he saw me for the first time, when i could feel his reaction to it, i almost want to say we were not acting. Seeing somebody you love in pain. Karen what a challenge, what during the time of slavery. Uc film that deal with the topic of slavery, and you dont understand, when there is that extreme pain, people fight harder to find those moments of joy and light. These are human beings. We needed to see their humanity, the love and the way the ot another. You dont normally get to witness that part of our history that was intrinsic, that is, and continues to be intrinsic to our culture. We take care of one another. Karen even in the toughest times. What did you know about nat turner before the role . Not a lot. I knew there was an uprising, but it was something i understood a little bit. Just the value in that. Knowing they were not waiting for somebody to save them. They were going to be their own heroes. Karen the nat turner rebellion was just one of many rebellions that are a littleknown aspect of American History. Up next, we talked to a professor of history that has professor of history that has studied the life of nat cmon in, pop pop happy birthday professor of history that has studied the life of nat i survived a heart attack. Keep from having another one. And im taking brilinta. For people whove been hospitalized for a heart attack. I take brilinta with a baby aspirin. No more than one hundred milligrams as it affects how well it works. Brilinta helps keep my platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. Brilinta reduced the chance of another heart attack. Or dying from one. It worked better than plavix. Dont stop taking brilinta without talking to your doctor since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, or bleeding more easily, or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. Dont take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers, a history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problems. Tell your doctor about bleeding, new or unexpected shortness of breath, any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. Talk to your doctor about brilinta. Im doing all i can. That includes brilinta. If you cant afford your medication, astra zeneca may be able to help. Karen welcome back. Nat turners place in history remains awash in controversy. History has constantly been altered. Forced conversations about violent resistance against oppression in america. Kenneth greenberg is a professor of history and chair of the department at Suffolk University in boston. He recently published the second edition of the confessions of nat turner and is the cowriter for the film nat turner a troublesome property. Welcome to our studio. Turner . Nat turner, i believe, is a Great American hero. He has that been recognized as a hero, but because his story is complex and has nuances, we are a nation that has found it hard to put up monuments to the people that were enslaved, in if you go through the south, in the county where the rebellion took place, there will be no monument to nat turner there in the city. There will be a monument to the confederacy in that city. We have a long history of neglecting our great africanamerican euros. I believe this film will help change that. Karen you are a professor of history but it is apparent that you are a quiet person. Wh m turner . It happened when i was in graduate school. I came across a document called the confessions of nat turner, and extraordinary document. This is a confession he gave while in his jail cell before his execution. He knew he was going to be killed. He had been captured, he eluded capture for quite a while, and named thomas graves, who published that confession. That document is extraordinary because he wrote it, but you can hear nat turners voice in there. We have nothing else like this in American History. There is no other direct voice of a person who rebelled. But you have to be careful. You could not do a film about this very easily, but you need to look at it really carefully, to split apart the when you do, you see that. My exposure to that and hearing somebody speak to me from 1831 in an extraordinary voice was deeply moving to me. Karen some have suggested that thomas gray may have had his own motives for shaping that document in a certain way. He was also a slaveholder, so there is some question about whether or nat turners most scholars who study nat turner is that you can pick up his voice. Of course, that is true what all sources in africanAmerican History. You sometimes get africanamerican voices that are unadulterated by white voices. Most often it comes to the white voices. For example, we have the trial records. Very sparse records of not just his trials, but of others as well. You have to be aware of the setting. On the other hand, they are speaking, and that is what scholarship is about. You have to read many sources and understand them. The confessions is exactly that kind of document. Karen nate parker has read some of your work researching for the film. Comes out. He got a Pulitzer Prize for this and this was another depiction of nat turner which some feel was responsible for the negative portrayal of him in history. I think you had negative portrayals all along. It is all negative in the white press. There are few abolitionists who admire him right away, especially black but its mostly negative. The dominant set of images are negative. When sty run road his novel, you can go back and look at the reaction. The initial reaction was extraordinary. It won the Pulitzer Prize. He was on the cover of time magazine, newsweek. People said that this was the Great American novel. To see the flaws. Then they and a few others began to criticize the novel. By the time the criticism was done, it became one of the Major Intellectual racial controversies the kind where black and white are largely divided and cannot understand each other, writing each other in public. There was an extraordinary book published called respond and many attacked the book as a deeply racist book. Karen one of the things that we see in the novel and the movie, nat turner was not portrayed as being married but someone who thought white women which was a big bugaboo he did not mention the fact that he was married. There are records that six suggest he was. Is really important. I knew this, styron did not know this. There was one record of him having a wife in a newspaper account. Everything else is speculation about her. Even the identification of cherry. In this record, you cannot go back and find the details of the relationship. Thats one of the problems of doing africanAmerican History. He may have had an extraordinary relationship. He may have had no relationship at all. When you do historical writing, you can talk about maybe it was this way, maybe it was another way. When you do a film, as nate parker did, you have to decide at the beginning. I believe he made the right choice and said there was a relationship there. Was not the only uprising of enslaved africanamericans during that time. Talk about some of the other rebellions. Let me put it in a larger context first. The question historians have always asked about africanamericans in resistance to slavery has been, how much resistance was there . In the racist view of things, there was no resistance at all. You people say there was no resistance. Then there were those who began to look more carefully and discovered huge amount of resistance. There was the nat turner rebellion, gabriels rebellion, a rebellion in louisiana, rebellions in the 18th century as well. There are many rebellions of this type. But the full range of rebellion against slavery occurs not in nat turners rebellion, as big as it is, was one day. In brazil, they had rebellions that went on for 50 years. In russia, in the surf done, there were rebellions. In the u. S. , the typical rebellion, even the nat turner rebellion, are small. One day, involves 50 or 60 people all told. That is worldclass slave rebellions. Nonetheless, there is this tradition. And there is also this tradition of resistance. This is something that can get lost. People resist in countless ways. For example, southern cities burn down all the time. Who is setting those fires . Enslaved people resisting slavery. Women are cooking cities burn down all the time. And they can put things in their masters oatmeal and commit murder that of work. The story of american slavery on a daytoday basis is about resistance. Nat turner is one example of many. Karen professor greenberg, thank you for being here. I know you have written a lot about this. We encourage everyone to google your name, watch the documentary on netflix right now, and look at your other scholarly work on this topic. Thanks for being here. Screening of the birth of the nation . Check out our facebook and twitter pages to get your complement repair of tickets to see the film this tuesday october 4 at the boston, low theater. The birth of the nation is out in theaters october 7. You can learn more about everything we featured on todays program by logging on to our webpage wcvb. Com. Youre watching teen kids news. Im livia. Heres this weeks top story. . This report is brought to you by school bell partners. You dont have to be an a student to see that many schools are battling to balance their budgets. If your school has had to scale back activities like music, art, or phys ed, then you know exactly what im talking about. In fact, in some districts, theres so little money for basic school supplies, many teachers often have to buy them themselv
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