Africa-Press – Angola. The documentary “Tell Them We Are Rising” (Tell Them We Are Rising), by American filmmaker Stanley Nelson, was shown in Luanda, by the US Embassy, to commemorate African-American History Month, established in February 2019. 1926.
The two-hour, 26-minute film chronicles the history of black-only colleges and universities, providing an exciting overview of the fast-paced and complex story of how African-American higher education institutions became havens. for black intellectuals, artists and pioneers, offering a promising path towards the American dream: educating the architects of freedom movements over the decades and cultivating leaders in every field.
According to US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Greg Sega, the screening of the film focused more on the contribution of African American colleges and universities to the development of the United States.
“Schools focus on educating children about our history as a Nation, and ensuring that diverse historical figures are included in curricula to reinforce a full understanding of our history. As President Jon Biden highlighted this year: “Afro History -American is American history. African-American culture is American culture, and African-American stories are essential to the ongoing history of America, our failures, struggles and progress are our aspirations”, recalled the words of the US President.
Greg Sega also mentioned that this date is celebrated by all Americans in a very similar way to what has been done here in Angola, for 20 years, with lectures, speeches and films, to highlight the achievements of African-American populations, as well as how to connect with the African diaspora.
He recalled that previously they only celebrated for 7 days, having expanded to the entire month of February, starting in 1976. There is the direct involvement of students and teachers, ex-students of exchange programs, as well as Angolan partners in various sectors. , whose aim is to learn more about the contributions of African Americans.
“Over the years we have received artists in Education programs, and last year we hosted a virtual meeting with the Ministry of Higher Education, and the Ministry of Culture, in which we discussed the historical relations between the USA and Angola, not only with the arrival of the first slaves who arrived in the USA over 400 years ago, but also considering the agricultural, social and linguistic contributions they brought to the USA and that still exist today in our words as instruments in our culture”.
For the cinephile Estefânia Sousa, who watched the film, the documentary addressed a topic of extreme importance, which is education as a key to the development of any country, for liberation, for individual rights and freedoms, and which made it possible to understand the entire process that took place. in the United States within the African American community.
Although she was already aware of the existence of African-American universities and colleges, Estefânia Sousa said that she had no idea of the specific importance that these higher education institutions had, and also of the evolution of their growth, not only as a tool to give competence to former slaves, but above all to the awareness and universal vision that it gave them to develop to their fullest.
The film, produced in 2017, was shown on Wednesday at the Geração 80 space in Luanda.
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