Central Virginia Times

PVCC to Host Screening and Discussion of Documentary Film Raised/Razed

Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) will host a screening and discussion of the documentary film “Raised/Razed” with the filmmakers, Lorenzo Dickerson and Jordy Yager, Tuesday, January 17, at 3:30 p.m. The event will be held on the main campus, in the Main Building Auditorium, room 229. The discussion will be moderated by PVCC Assistant Professor of Political Science and Civic Engagement Coordinator Connie Jorgensen. The event is free and open to the public.

“We are pleased to host the screening as we also mark the federal holiday to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We hope that the documentary and discussion provide an opportunity to reflect about the past and also look forward to the future with a commitment to inclusion, equity and social justice,” shared PVCC President Jean Runyon.

The documentary feature film is about the lasting effects of the federally-backed and locally-executed Urban Renewal program, through the lens of Vinegar Hill, a large African American neighborhood in the heart of Charlottesville, Virginia. For 100 years Vinegar Hill thrived as the center of business, education, religious and cultural life, until — like hundreds of Black communities across America — it was destroyed. “Raised/Razed” draws the connection between Charlottesville’s Vinegar Hill neighborhood and Durham, North Carolina’s Hayti neighborhood, which was also destroyed, to show how Urban Renewal generationally transformed the lives of people across the country. The film leaves viewers with the question of repair and what can be done to reckon with this painful history.

Dickerson is a filmmaker/photographer, founder of Maupintown Media and native of Albemarle County. His films focus on sharing stories of African-American history and culture in Virginia. His Maupintown Film Festival is held annually at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center in Charlottesville. 

A career journalist, Yager grew up in Charlottesville and is the Director of Digital Humanities at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, where he runs the Central Virginia African American Land Repository and the African American Oral History projects, and leads the Mapping Cville and Mapping Albemarle programs.

To learn more about this special event visit www.pvcc.edu/raised. 

Original source can be found here