Red Summers is a series of 360 immersive episodes with corresponding essays and community testimonials that tell the untold American history of racially motivated domestic terrorism from 1917 to 1921, created by DPI Professor Bayeté Ross Smith. The series covers seven largely forgotten violent incidents that shaped the next century of American history. It directly connects the social and political issues that led to this violence to the issues American society and the world face today. Originally published with The Guardian and exhibited in France and at Columbia Law School and NYU, these films and the installation examine how these events were not isolated incidents, but are part of a continuum that still continues today.
Using contemporary imagery with overlaid historical images, this series of documentary shorts will examine the lack of legal accountability and how these events relate to the current challenges in the USA regarding social and racial justice. These films allow the audience to stand on a historically significant site related to this history and look back in time without having to travel to the site physically. The goal of this project is to directly connect the past to the present and provide a means for society to learn from the past so we do not repeat the same mistakes and fall victim to unnecessary violence during another highly polarized and volatile point in time.
More Info HERE.