Good Family, video, 2019 explores
memories from childhood that represent significant psychological moments set in
a culture of racial divide. Super 8 film footage from the 1960’s and 1970’s,
taken during my father’s tour of duty in Germany, forms the major portion of
the video. Domestic scenes of our mixed
race family enjoying home birthday and carnival parties are featured. At first
glance, these celebrations appear fun-filled and joyous, however, my personal
memories are often bittersweet and are opaquely referred to in the solemn
sounding poetry voice-over.
As a respite from the sometimes
dizzying amateurly filmed super 8 family footage, I’ve interspersed
contemporary scenes of my adult son dancing in a free and uninhibited
manner. His dancing is coupled with
clips of typical German architectural elements such as cathedral spires and
gargoyles. The softness and fluidity of
my son’s dancing forms a stark contrast to the hardness and rigidity of the
building material. This contrast describes my African American and German
heritages which are, at times, culturally at odds and difficult to reconcile.
The natural degradation of the super
8 film, along with the soundtrack and poetry recitation, lends pathos to this
intimate view of family activity. Good
Family is a very personal and
slightly voyeuristic glimpse into the home life of my mixed race family which
was marginalized and arguably not considered a “good family” in the 60’s and
70’s. Like the current British monarchy,
this work gives visibility and legitimacy to a mixed race family group in our
often racially charged political climate.
