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.