COMMUNITY
JEWFRO
Meet Me at the
Movies: Rosenwald
hen I met with Aviva
Kempner, decorated docu-
mentarian and Cass Tech
graduate, she kept making alternat-
ing references to Julius and Julian.
We were seated outside at the Ma-
ple Theater and Kitchen, enjoying the
kitchen and anticipating the theater,
albeit for a screening months away of
a film that hadn't been finished.
The Julius: Rosenwald, the subject
of her forthcoming documentary
(rosenwaldfilnn.org ).The Julian: Bond,
an activist and politician who was
interviewed for the film and advised
on its production. Both men were on
her mind.
Rosenwald built Sears, Roebuck
into the country's largest retailer and
built more than 5,000 schools in the
rural South when the doctrine of
Separate But Equal made
separate unavoidable and
equal unachievable.
Bond was born in Ten-
nessee in 1940, eight years
after Rosenwald's death.
He placed himself on an
arc that the Jewish philan-
thropist helped bend to-
ward justice and progress.
As Bond says in the film,
the people that Rosenwald
supported "are the prede-
cessor generation to the
Civil Rights generation that
I'm a part of. And I'm a predecessor
generation to the generation that re-
sulted in the election of the first black
president of the United States'
Had Rosenwald just wrestled Jim
Crow with his Southern schools and
his support of Booker T. Washington's
Tuskegee Institute, it would have
been enough. Then there was the
Rosenwald Fund,"the single most
important funding agency for African
American culture in the 20th century'
as described by poet Rita Dove. The
recipients of fellowships through the
Rosenwald Fund in the 1930s and 40s
were "a who's who of Black America"
— Langston Hughes, Ralph Bunche,
W. E. B. DuBois were just a few of the
600 fellows.
Now that I've seen the film, a few
thoughts:
1. Spoiler alert. Rosenwald is excep-
tional. Exceptional in that it's the story
of an unsung hero, sung in a way that
serves to amplify the voices of those
he touched. (He's barely in the latter
part of the film.) It could have been a
simple story of righteous benefactor
and humble beneficiaries. Instead,
the humble way in which Rosenwald
gave away his fortune honored the
righteousness of individuals and an
W
OSENIXALD
oppressed people.
2.The poster.That humility was why
Rosenwald schools weren't actu-
ally called Rosenwald Schools and
Chicago's Museum of Science and
Industry isn't called the Rosenwald
Museum. And yet, among the limited
archival footage of Rosenwald the
Philanthropist, a picture stands out:
school girls in white dresses that spell
his name, from a visit to one of the
schools. Aviva lost sleep over this. Use
a different picture for the poster? Use
Photoshop to remove the letters?
We pored over the alternatives (over
pour-over coffee) and concerns that
the visual looked exploitative and
lacked the nuance of his partnerships
with black leaders and communities.
I'm glad Aviva stuck with
the picture; it invites further
inquiry and rewards those
who don't jump to conclu-
sions, just as her filmmak-
ing so effectively models.
3. Julian. On Aug. 15,
2015, before the comple-
tion of the film, Bond
died. As President Obama
eulogized,"justice and
equality was the mission
that spanned his life"— a
life in which he co-founded
the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee and South-
ern Poverty Law Center, opposed the
Vietnam War, won and then fought for
his seats in the Georgia General As-
sembly. The New York Times described
Bond as a"persistent opponent of the
stubborn remnants of white suprem-
acy' Because Rosenwald, Bond and
countless other activists, advocates
and allies had the courage to take on
the task of repairing the world, it is
incumbent upon us to continue it.
Aviva is a testament to the fact that
you can take the girl out of Detroit,
but you can't take Detroit out of the
girl — not only for her documentary
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg,
but also for her grit, passion and
compassion.
Sometimes I go to the movies by
myself. I like the anonymity and the
popcorn. Call it a guilty pleasure. But
I want to see Rosenwald with you. I'd
feel guilty if I didn't invite you — even
if I have to share my popcorn (or
yours, medium butter). I insist.
I will have the distinct privilege of
moderating a Q&A with Aviva (and
you!) after the screening on Sept. 26
at 7 p.m. at the Riviera Cinema, 30170
Grand River Ave. in Farmington Hills.
Hope to see you there.
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