From Slavery to Freedom Film Series: “The New Black: LGBT Rights and African American Communities”

Presented as part of the From Slavery to Freedom Film Series, “The New Black: LGBT Rights and African American Communities” tells the story of how African American communities are grappling with LGBT rights issues in light of the recent same-sex marriage movement and the fight over civil rights.

The film documents activists, families, and clergy on both sides of the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage and examines homophobia in the Black community’s institutional pillar—the Black church.
Director Yoruba Richen was inspired to make the film in response to erroneous reports that African American voters caused the passage of anti-same sex marriage initiative in the 2008 California election.

Following the screening, there will be a discussion about the film with Dr. Sharon Holland, the Townsend Ludington Distinguished Professor in American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The 2025 From Slavery to Freedom Film Series will feature films that reflect expressions of freedom, rights, and revolution in the African Diaspora. From the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean, these films will bring to light discussion and revelation of the continual quest for humanity and equity.

Admission

This virtual screening is free with advance registration.

About Dr. Sharon Holland

Sharon P. Holland (she/her) is the Past President of the American Studies Association (2022-2025). She is also the Townsend Ludington Distinguished Professor in American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She served as Chair of the Department of American Studies from July 2020-July 2022. She is a graduate of Princeton University (1986) and holds a PhD in English Language & Literature and African American Studies from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1992).
Professor Holland is the author of three monographs and one co-authored book. Her third monograph, an other: a black feminist consideration of animal life (Duke University Press, 2023), is an investigation of the hum/animal distinction, hum:animal relation, and the place of discourse on blackness within those theoretical discussions. It was awarded an honorable mention from the John Hope Franklin Prize in American Studies in 2024. You can read the introduction to the book here.

She is the author of Raising the Dead: Readings of Death and (Black) Subjectivity (Duke UP, 2000), which won the Lora Romero First Book Prize from the American Studies Association (ASA) in 2002. She is also co-author of a collection of trans-Atlantic Afro-Native criticism with Professor Tiya Miles, entitled Crossing Waters/ Crossing Worlds: The African Diaspora in Indian Country (Duke UP, 2006). Professor Holland is also responsible for bringing a feminist classic, The Queen is in the Garbage by Lila Karp to the attention of The Feminist Press for publication (2007).

She is the author of The Erotic Life of Racism (Duke UP, 2012), a theoretical project that explores the intersection of Critical Race, Feminist, and Queer Theory.

You can see her work on food, writing and so much more on her blog.

Professor Holland’s next book project, Outsider combines her decades-long work in Food Studies as a cook and writer with her passion for art, especially art from outsider artists. To keep up with her recent projects, request a CV and more, see here.