
Film Screening + Panel Discussion: ‘Descendant’ Netflix documentary
April 20th @ 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Join the Harvard Chan-NIEHS Center for a screening of ‘Descendant’, a Netflix documentary film that follows the descendants of the survivors of The Clotilda, the last known slave ship to transport human beings as cargo from Africa to America. After a century of secrecy and speculation, the 2019 discovery of the ship turns attention toward the descendant community of historic Africatown and presents a moving portrait of a community actively grappling with and fighting to preserve their heritage while examining what justice looks like today. The film models the sorts of questions that community health care practitioners should consider when serving environmental justice communities, which will be discussed during the panel discussion.
This event will take place on Thursday, April 20 from 3-7pm (see full schedule below). Space is limited; RSVP is required. Please bring your ID to the event.
3:00 – 4:50pm Screening of ‘Descendant
5:00 – 6:15pm Panel Discussion – Environmental Justice Perspectives
- Joycelyn Davis, Former Vice President, Clotilda Descendants Association; Organizer of the Spirit of Our Ancestors Festival
- Ramsey Sprague, President, Mobile Environmental Justice Action Coalition; Chair, Mobile NAACP Env & Climate Justice Committee
- Kern Jackson, PhD, Co-writer and Co-producer; Director of African American Studies Program, University of South Alabama
- Moderated by Darryl Fears, Harvard Niemen Fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist covering environmental justice for The Washington Post
6:15 – 7:00pm Cocktail Reception