I Bear Witness: The Untold Stories of American Race Riots

This presentation begins with the eye-opening short documentary I Bear Witness: The Untold Stories of American Race Riots (run time: 17 minutes) –– produced, written, and co-directed by Tiffany Lee. The film, through scholarly review and victims' and eyewitnesses' statements curated from historical records, serves to dismantle the myth of Race Riots as isolated historical incidents, and seeks to begin the conversation of the Race Riot as nationwide terroristic acts used over 100 years to quell Black efforts toward equal rights and economic prosperity. The East St. Louis and Chicago Race Riots are featured prominently in the film. Through competitive processes, the Saint Louis Public Library Film Festival, the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, and the 81Shorts Film Showcase selected the film for screening. 

Next, audience members will engage in an interactive exercise in which they are given first-person scenarios compiled from primary documents and resources and asked to imagine themselves as survivors or victims of a Race Riot. The goal of this exercise is to foster empathy and a greater understanding of Race Riots.