Grits, Greens & Griots
Grits, Greens and Griots captures the oral history of elders, 90 years of age and older who were born and currently reside in the South. Their stories are set in a tumultuous era marked by lynching, human rights violations, white supremacy, and Jim Crow. The inequities were dramatic, violent, and remained dominant from their formative years through adulthood. Elders born before 1922 also experienced the Great Depression, World War II, historic migration of families and a shift from an agricultural to an industry based economy. In Grits, Greens and Griots, the shared experiences of growing up in the South, emerge as pungent, diverse, compelling, complex and oddly similar. The documentary reveals the struggle, emotion, pain and victory of Southern elders who have navigated rough terrain in American history. Three dominant ethnic groups are portrayed in the documentary, African Americans (Blacks), Native Americans and European Americans (Whites).
Louise Chance Ricks
Born: July 17 1912 Photo by Connie Cross |
Louise Chance Ricks
Louise Chance Ricks was born on a farm in Swainsboro, Georgia and can recall stories of her mixed-race heritage. “My granddaddy was born in slavery time when Abraham Lincoln freed the blacks. He was 12 years old. His mama was working for the Brunsons, the white family. One of the Brunsons, my daddy’s half sister, the white sister, owned the land we lived on and when she did, her son took us as kin folks. They had land and wouldn’t give us nothing. Everybody knew we was kin. When we was young we was ashamed of it, because we didn’t want to be no kin to white folks.” |
Will May, Jr.
Born: March 1 1919 Photo by Connie Cross |
Will May, Jr.
Will May, Jr. was born in a farming community in Webster County, Georgia. “We were sharecroppers. We had to move every year. I believe my grand had relations with Mr. Levitt. My grandma was workin’ for him. Nobody never talked about it. My mama’s mama had two boys and four girls, all of ‘em dark ‘cept my mama. My mama looked like a white woman. My daddy’s people didn’t take no foolishness from nobody. One day we was moving, he got the mules and wagon at Levitt’s house to move some furniture. This old white man come to the house raising sand and told my granddaddy, he betta take that buggy back up to the house. My granddaddy said, ‘I ain’t takin’ it nowhere.’ He opened his knife and started waving it back and forth. My grandma came out the house and said, ‘stand back Mr. May,’ pointed a gun and, I’ll catch yo in the seat of your paints and take you to the promise land.’ That white man turnaround and ran off. My grandma, Leila May, didn’t take no mess. She was tough.” |
Romay Davis
Born: Oct 29 1919 Photo by Connie Cross |
Romay Davis
Romay Davis, from Dahlgren, Virginia, was raised in a vibrant, loving community. “We were poor, but we weren’t poor in spirit. There was one black neighborhood and one white neighborhood. There was never a great deal of prejudice until we were adults. We never felt it, in separate communities. I used to be a pattern maker. I designed clothes for children’s and misses sportswear. My boss and I used to travel a lot together. When were in Alabama he introduced me as his niggra. We fell out. He didn’t know why I clammed up. I never had any association with him again. That’s how it affected me. I like my boss. Were like two peas in a pod with our work, going places together. There was never any evil or malice, except I was hurt by that remark. I had respect for him, but I was so hurt, hurt deep down inside and it took me a long time to forgive him.” |
James "Jim" Schell
1918 - 2013 Photo by Connie Cross |
James "Jim" Schell
Jim Schell, from Atlanta, excelled at his first love, art. “I was deaf as a child, but didn’t know it. My family thought I was dumb. My family could understand my words, but I had a hard time in school until they found out I couldn’t hear. My mother was the happiest person you ever seen and the kindest. Anybody that came to the door and was hungry and we didn’t have much to eat, she found something for them to eat. My mother fed people, black people. We had regulars that came to the house, they walked miles b/c they knew they would get a meal when they got there. In one of my jobs, there was a guy named Luther Hayes. They called him Bozo. I told him all my troubles. I said Luther, wouldn’t you like to be called by your name. He said I like it the way it is. He said, If they call me Luther or Mr. Hayes, they would give me hell. So he took it. I resented them calling him Bozo, he was a gentleman.” |
Isaac Joe
Born: June 24 1915 Photo by Connie Cross |
Isaac Joe
With a sharp mind and an upright stature, Isaac Joe of Bishopville, South Carolina is inspired by life. “I was born in Manville, SC on a farm where my family sharecropped. It wasn’t all bad. I plowed the mule, picked cotton and could average 300 pounds a day, a bale a week. Life as far as the economy and money in my pocket was hard, but other than that my life was pretty good. I had to work hard. I always liked it down here. I like the climate. The people down here were more thoughtful. My family must have used the first name ‘Joe’ of one of my relatives. There are a lot of ‘Joes’ around here and they’re all back. I don’t know no white folks named ‘Joe’.” |
Lorenzo A Wallace
Born: May 14 1919 Photo by Connie Cross |
Lorenzo Wallace, Sr.
Lorenzo Wallace, Sr. born in 1919 grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. “My dad was an orphan from Cairo, Georgia. We never knew much about him. He and my mom met at Clark University. From there he went on to Meharry Medical College. My dad never got a chance to tell us a whole lot. He passed when I was six. During those days doctors made house calls, my dad caught pneumonia before they had had antibiotic. He practiced medicine 15 years before he died. My mother had to go to work to feed us, clothe us and keep the home fires burning. She was very industrious. She had someone build an addition onto our house and she rented that out. She bought another little house and went to work for Pilgrim Insurance Company.” |