Locally produced documentary to air nationally on PBS
The West Michigan documentary film “Up from the Bottoms: The Search
for the American Dream” will be aired on PBS television stations
across the nation over the next three years. The film will air
on WGVU from Grand Rapids on Sunday, February 5 at 8 p.m. during
Black History Month.
The Paul Robeson Award-winning film, tells the story of the
massive migration of African Americans from the rural South to the
prosperous North during the World War II years and beyond. Sponsors of
the project include the National Educational Telecommunication
Association, with generous support by the Michigan Humanities Council,
Alcoa Inc. and Grand Valley State University,
“The Bottoms is a low-lying area in Muskegon, near Jackson Hill,
that was inhabited by many African Americans who came in the 1930s and
’40s,” said director Jim Schaub, who teaches in Grand Valley’s School
of Communications. Schaub co-produced the film with his brother Rod
Schaub, who has had a lengthy career in the music and film industries.
The narration by Emmy award-winning actress Cicely Tyson guides
viewers through touching, thoughtful and often-funny stories told by
15 residents of Muskegon. Civil rights activist and comedian Dick
Gregory and African American historian Benjamin Wilson provide the
national and historical perspectives on the great migration. The
soundtrack includes music from Stevie Wonder and Miles Davis.
The film has won five awards on its journey around the world
after its world premiere at the Rhode Island International Film
Festival in 2009. It is also part of the Library of Congress Veterans
History Project, and is used in high schools and colleges across the
U.S. as a part of Black History and Social Studies curricula.
For more information visit http://www.upfromthebottoms.com,
or call Jim Schaub in the School of Communications at (616) 331-3633.
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