“The Long Shadow,” a documentary directed by Frances Causey, captures the troubling tale of racism in the United States and demonstrates how slavery continues to cast a long shadow on our national identity. Causey will join Aurora Public Library District (APLD) and is a partner with libraries at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24 for a live, virtual Q&A about the film and his take on the state of our Nation today.
Causey was born and raised in a southern family setting which had deep ties to the Confederacy. “[I grew] up in what I considered the apartheid South and seeing how African Americans were treated,” Causey reveled in an interview with Mills Valley Film Festival in October 2017. “As a young child I knew something was deeply wrong.”
It was this upbringing that launched Causey’s deep passion for revealing the uncomfortable and often untold history of events in America. Causey’s other work includes other documentaries such as “Oklahoma City Bombing (1995)” and “Heist: Who Stole the American Dream? (2011).”
“My film also addresses the creation myths around the US, the fact that we were so committed to slavery at our founding and implications of that,” she said in the same interview. “White imposition and violence in America against African Americans have continued even after the Civil Rights Act. Where we are today is a chance for white people to understand this terrible history and, more importantly, its impacts.”
The film will be available any time between February 19 and February 26, and viewers can attend the live Q&A Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m.. To view the film and register for the event, visit our website at aurorapubliclibrary.org/event/4745809.
“Thank you so much for watching and sharing The Long Shadow. You are part of a community helping to spread the message that the work of equity and equality must fall in the hands of white Americans. We’re honored that the film is educating and guiding so many about what it takes to make an important change to the way that white Americans view their role in racial justice work. We know that the story of slavery and Jim Crow is an American story and is not one that the African-American community is responsible for repairing.” —With our utmost gratitude, Frances Causey, director Sally Holst, producer
This event is brought to you by Algonquin Area Public Library District, Arlington Heights Memorial Library, Aurora Public Library District, Chillicothe Public Library District, Deerfield Public Library, Des Plaines Public Library, Ella Johnson Memorial Public Library District, Flossmoor Public Library, Glencoe Public Library, Glenview Public Library, Harvey Public Library District, Highland Park Public Library, Indian Prairie Public Library, Lake Forest Library, Lake Villa District Library, Lincolnwood Public Library, Morton Grove Public Library, Mount Prospect Public Library, Northbrook Public Library, Prospect Heights Public Library District, Schaumburg Township District Library, Skokie Public Library, Three Rivers Public Library District, Vernon Area Public Library District, Warren-Newport Public Library, Wauconda Area Library, Wheaton Public Library, Wilmette Public Library, Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District, and in partnership with Racial Awareness in the North Shore (RAIN) and Together is Better Alliance (TiBA).
Andrew Muñoz is communications coordinator at the Aurora Public Library District.