AspireTV Tackles Black HIStory with New Film

HIStory tells the story of eighth grader Trent Caleb Lowery pictured at top who is sent to the principal39s office for disrupting his social studies class His father gets called in to speak with his white principal and teacher who are exasperated by Trent39s behavior and his perceived unwillingness to hew to the curriculumquotI looked at it as an opportunity to educate and I guess kind of give my take on the publicschool system and my experiencequot Orange explained quotHere is a rebellious child who maybe has a point but in this publicschool setting and in the system he can39t really share his opinionquotAcross the country school districts are engaged in conversations about how to accurately portray the histories of people of color in their communities Orange said these conversations are critical and he hopes his film encourages more dialogue He hopes schools will develop curricula that better reflect their communities particularly social studies and historyquotHow can we at least cater to these children and where they fit in in this American society and this countryquot he asked quotIt is very important to give children a sense of identity instead of kind of just lumping us into this one big pot even though America is a melting pot We have very unique distinct qualities that makes us individualsquotFor instance in the film Trent39s class learns about European settlers colonizing North America but Trent wants to discuss African contributions to their exploration He informs his principal and teacher that the Moors created an early navigational system based on the constellations which later helped European explorers The educators reprimand him for going off topic and question where he finds his informationOn screen the white educators in the film deliver on the worst stereotypes and could make some viewers uncomfortable That was necessary to deliver a powerful message Orange said quotMaking them so extreme so opposite and for the system created greater conflict for the story and was needed to present the larger issue at handquot he explainedWhere the public school in HIStory fails Trent39s father steps in to fill the gaps teaching his son the history of his community and ancestors He rebukes the principal and teacher who are aptly named Mr Whyte and Ms Peeple for calling him to the school and costing him two hours39 worth of wagesOrange said it is critical that parents help guide their children and stay involved in their education what they39re learning and what they aren39t His own parents were very supportive but they didn39t teach him about Black history He wished he had learned about the Moors Egyptians and Ethiopians and their contributions to history Learning about your ancestry and community he said gives children a sense of belonging and purposequotI hope that inspires conversation amongst parents first and foremost to take a little bit more responsibility for what their children are learning in the publicschool systemquot he said quotI hope this film sparks conversationsquotOrange originally wrote the script for a fellowship program for urban cable network TV One and it was produced by independent screenwriting label Damn Write OriginalsA product of MiamiDade Public Schools Orange said he was fortunate to have several teachers who recognized his writing talents After a career as a college athlete at Florida State University Orange received a Master39s in Fine Arts from Florida AampampM and set his sights on screenwritingThe film39s title is a play on that notion of a broken system Orange noted the quotHISquot represents history developed by white people in positions of power and forced on people of color without their input Another interpretation could be that Trent is sharing quotHISquot story rather than the one being fed to him by public schoolsquotIdentity is a theme of the film knowing where you came from gives you a greater sense of who you are and where you39re goingquot he saidquotThey do a great job supporting independent film makers and independent screen writersquot Orange said quotThey provide us a platform and give us a lot of exposurequotIn addition to its partnership with Damn Write Originals DWO AspireTV39s Urban Indie Film Block now in its fourth season features the best of urban short films by upandcoming Black filmmakers and presents passionate stories that touch upon a variety of themes and genres including romance friendship drama human connection comedy action and scifiHIStory is available to view on Facebook Instagram YouTube and Aspiretv Watch it hereClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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AspireTV Tackles Black HIStory with New Film

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Alli Romano

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