Bin Yah premiere - Tonight on ETV

How can we not be excited? Our new documentary, the labor of love, the one we made for nothing more than the need to capture it and will to do it, made it to PBS/ETV.

Making a film is a long process. This full-length feature documentary, Bin Yah, from concept to television, took 2 years. And this is really just the beginning. Bin Yah will have an entire life ahead of it, an entire future to navigate, releasing it audiences in a multitude of ways - educating, inspiring, working.

Those of you who have watched the film - we would love your feedback. Please send your thoughts to ChasDOC@gmail.com.

And please buy the DVD - support the future of important, truthful storytelling from the Carolina Lowcountry.

Thank you!

-justin

Buy the Bin Yah DVD

Juneteenth - Freedom Day / Emancipation Day

Bin Yah is almost complete. These next few days we will spend tweaking the credits, final color correction, audio mixing and setting up our broadcast master for our first TV screening on ETV’s Southern Lens, June 12 at 10pm.

Soon it will be closed captioned - and since we have some Gullah in our film that has been fun!

We are looking forward to selling the DVD, and making it available to libraries and for research. Around june 1, you will be able to purchase Bin Yah from this website.

There are hours and hours of footage and interviews of historic Mount Pleasant - we will release that as well.

Juneteenth

In June there are all kinds of celebrations for Juneteenth - the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.

From the Juneteenth website:

From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.

Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. It is a day, a week, and in some areas a month marked with celebrations, guest speakers, picnics and family gatherings. It is a time for reflection and rejoicing. It is a time for assessment, self-improvement and for planning the future. Its growing popularity signifies a level of maturity and dignity in America long over due. In cities across the country, people of all races, nationalities and religions are joining hands to truthfully acknowledge a period in our history that shaped and continues to influence our society today. Sensitized to the conditions and experiences of others, only then can we make significant and lasting improvements in our society.

To find a Juneteenth celebration in your area of the USA, check: Juneteenth Events

- Justin

VIDEO - Sweetgrass Basket Sculpture Unveiling & Dedication to Gullah - Geechee Culture

“Winnowing Hands” Dedication and Unveiling

May 10, 2008

Click to Play Video - Sweetgrass Basket Sculpture Unveiling & Dedication to Gullah Culture

 

Octavia Mitchell from WCBD and Thomasena Stokes-Marshall, Mount Pleasant Town Council Member and President of the Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Festival Association welcomed and presented “Winnowing Hands”, a beautiful, big bronze sculpture in the Oakland Plantation Shopping Center in Mount Pleasant, SC.

Almost 3 years of planning went into this dream, honoring sweetgrass weaving heritage and Gullah - Geechee culture.

More than 150 people joined Mayor Harry H. Hallman, Congressman and super delegate James E. Clyburn, NPS Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor Coordinator Michael Allen and others as Tex Small unveiled the sculpture. Winnowing Hands was created by sculptor Shirley McWorter-Moss, who was on hand and shared some nice words.