Film Screening + Panel Discussion: ‘Descendant’

“Descendant is a powerful documentary that shares the story of the descendants of the survivors of the Clotilda, believed to be the last ship that carried enslaved Africans to the United States.” – 44th President Barack Obama

Join the Harvard Chan-NIEHS Center for a screening of ‘Descendant’, a Netflix documentary film that follows the descendants of the survivors of 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 Clotilda 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

This event is hosted by the Harvard Chan-NIEHS Center for Environmental Health (P30 ES000002), with support from the Office of Communications, Office of Diversity & Inclusion, and the Office of the Dean.

Students and Postdocs: We are hosting a Trainee Lunch with our guest panelists in HSPH Building 1 from 1:00-2:00pm on Thurs, April 20. If you’d like to attend, please RSVP at the link below.