Finding the Gold Within – in Retrospect
In September of 2020, Sam Piha did an interview with me for his Afterschool Blog about my film Finding the Gold Within and why I chose to make “race” a prominent theme in the documentary (released in 2014). In the piece Sam also included links to press coverage of my 641 Garage BLM Memorial Mural Project. I was surprised – it made me realize how related the film project (2011- 2018) was to the mural. And how in my work and life, everything is intimately related, no separation.
Sam Piha and his organizations Temescal Associates, Learning in Afterschool & Summer, and How Kids Learn Foundation – who for decades have done wonderful and important work for Afterschool teachers and programs – have helped over the years to organize highly successful screenings in the San Francisco Bay Area, which included also invitations of the film’s protagonists and potent discussions with audiences.
Excerpt from my Answers:
"Of course I knew that the film would unavoidably have to do with racism in America, even though Alchemy is not overtly addressing those issues in their highly sophisticated, astonishingly effective and unique work. The theme of racial injustice weaves itself throughout the film because that has been and is the everyday reality for African Americans. Not just now, but for 400 years. Racism is America’s biggest 'story.'
"Once I witnessed in person Alchemy’s work, it became clear to me that it was unavoidably highlighting a wound in American society. Getting close to the “Alchemy family” and my six chosen protagonists for the film (and their families), we constantly discussed things “invisible” to many white Americans – like the Black man, feared and reviled, and the long history of that. Trust was built in part because I was German, with an accent, had not grown up in this country, and I naturally possess enthusiasm and passion for deep inquiry, authentic expression, and justice. I knew African American history and literature. The bloody history of slavery, oppression, criminalization – and so much denial and whitewashing. I knew about the ongoing murdering of Black people by state violence and hate. I had studied Carl Jung’s and Joseph Campbell’s work. So, I saw Kwame Scrugg’s (Founder of Alchemy Inc.) work in the context of mythology, racism, injustice, and history. And in my interviews over the years, the protagonists kept confiding with stories about their ongoing struggle with racism, their confusion and fury.
Coming to this country in 1981, my background allowed me to see America’s racism early on. In the early nineties, I taught creative expression for four years as a volunteer in prison and three years in drug rehabs. This community work and critical reading, taught me about American society, culture, history, and its 'two worlds' or realities. I knew that a country not dealing with its genocidal history is a dangerous country. Racism kills people’s ability to find the ‘gold within’ themselves and others. This is true for victim and perpetrator (and bystander) alike, whose hearts must whither."
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