Quiet Voices in a Noisy World: The Struggle for Change in Jasper, Texas
African-American Docs
•
1h 12m
Directed by Alan Govenar • Documentary • 2025 • 73 minutes
Perhaps no town has experienced the racial divide in America as much as Jasper, Texas. The lynching of James Byrd Jr. in 1998 revealed the deep division between the Black community and their white counterparts. The legacy of slavery runs deep in Jasper; most Blacks have a clear kinship to their slave ancestors, and many have suffered from the ravaging effects of Jim Crow racism. Jasper is a place where Blacks make up the majority of the population but lack the same representation in government.
Quiet Voices in a Noisy World captures the spirit of a group of Black volunteers in Jasper who are battling to overcome adversity through hard work, self-reliance, and community engagement. These volunteers have spearheaded various projects to reclaim the dignity of their community and to advance social justice. This new documentary by Alan Govenar could not be more relevant in today’s world, at a time when attempts to remember, confront, and recitify the injustices of history are being undermined by the politics of erasure.
Up Next in African-American Docs
-
Edith+Eddie
Directed by Laura Checkoway • Documentary • 2017 • 29 minutes
Edith Hill and Eddie Harrison got married in Virginia at ages 96 and 95. Dancing at the honky-tonk and going to church, their newlywed life is filled with affection, prayer and faith. Since tying the knot, both Edith and Eddie have ex...
-
'63 Boycott
Directed by Gordon Quinn • Documentary • 2017 • 30 minutes
On October 22, 1963, more than 250,000 students boycotted the Chicago Public Schools to protest racial segregation. Many marched through the city calling for the resignation of School Superintendent Benjamin Willis, who placed trailers, ...
-
Althea
Directed by Rex Miller • Documentary • 2014 • 83 minutes
Althea Gibson broke records on and off the tennis court. A truant from the rough streets of Harlem, Gibson emerged as a most unlikely queen of the highly segregated tennis world in the 1950s. A sharecropper's daughter, Gibson's family migr...
