“Almighty Debt,” the latest installment of the CNN series “Black in America” will be showcased in Reese Phifer Hall room 180 at 7 tonight.
This TV special, hosted by Soledad O’Brien, will delve into topics that plague several communities, such as financial hardships in the current recession, but it will particularly focus on the black community.
“Our organization was able to learn more about the series from [George] Daniels in the communications school,” said Crystalline Jones, vice president of the Black Student Union. “He wanted us to host a screening of the documentary and spark conscious discussion among students on campus.”
After the screening, there will be a discussion panel that will give their insight about the issues of finances and faith, and the panel will be streamed to the CNN website live.
“It’s great to be able to have that capability so that [the public] will be able to know what students here at the University of Alabama think about these issues,” she said.
Last year, with the iReport capability on CNN’s website, students in Tuscaloosa were able to report back to CNN their response to the show.
“The ‘Black in America’ franchise is a series of films that began in July 2008,” said George Daniels, associate professor in the department of journalism.
He said there is also a “Latino in America” film that was shown on campus in October 2009 in conjunction with the department of American studies.
Jones said it would be interesting to see the film that will focus on debt in our community and the black church.
Daniels described how the film showcases the life of one New York couple and how the husband had been working for 17 years after being laid off. During this time, the wife took responsibility to support the family. The film highlights how the family made it through this and still continued to tithe and be active in their faith.
“These are the types of stories that the film discusses and it goes into more detail about the black church,” Daniels said.
CNN’s O’Brien will report on how some religious leaders are“fighting debt from the pulpit.” This is the third year for the series, and it will also explore how the church has changed since the time of segregation.
Daniels said the point of screening these films is to spark discussion among the students.
“Last year, it was very enlightening to be able to meet the panel at the screening, and incorporate discussions about African-Americans and Latinos in Tuscaloosa,” he said.
