Leaders of Madison's Black Renaissance” to Be Shown At Fitchburg Event: Black Renaissance Revisited
by Jonathan Gramling
Dr. Charles Taylor has always been an observer of the Madison scene as an educator, author and film producer. Back in 2021, Taylor was reflecting on Madison’s Black community and it occurred to him that the community was going through a Black renaissance. And so he emailed community leaders and friends to get their opinion and to explore more the expanse of the renaissance that Taylor was witnessing. And he decided to make a documentary.
In February 2022, Taylor’s film/documentary, “Leaders of Madison’s Black Renaissance” premiered at the Overture Center for the Arts and received very positive feedback from the audience. Since then, Taylor has distributed the film through CDs and has shown it at numerous film festivals.
The Capital City Hues conducted an email interview with Taylor to see what the impact of the film has been.
Hues: What were some of the highlights in producing Black Renaissance?
Taylor: Finding out the great things that our Black leaders were either doing or planning. Most had outstanding visions and just needed the resources to make it happen. Also just confirming what I already knew that Blacks were making a tremendous difference in Madison, but the majority were doing so with little or no recognition. I really enjoyed talking with our young leaders, our new leaders, and our older leaders and to hear their stories. I was very impressed by the passion and commitment that nearly every Black leader expressed. That’s why I was so honored to be able to share their stories and contributions.
Hues: How did it feel when witnessing the premier at the Overture Center? Was the audience response what you had wanted it to be?
Taylor: Relief!! I had been working 12-14-hour days for like three months straight and that was stressful, especially at my age. But I realize people don’t care about how many storms you encounter, they just want to know if you brought the ship in. The premiere made all of those hours worthwhile. People were applauding from the beginning of the film until the end. I probably shouldn't admit this but I was kind of upset. I had posted on the big screen for people to be silent during the film and respect everyone’s right to hear and see the documentary. I felt that with all of the applauding and shouting that people wouldn’t experience the film the way I wanted them to. After about 10-minutes into it my wife just told me to chill and enjoy it because the audience seemed to love it. So I sat back and tried to take the moment in.I was very pleased at the response I got and then all of the emails and Facebook postings confirmed that it was a special night and people appreciated the work we did to complete this documentary. I will be forever grateful to Deana Wright, Jeremy Nichols, Leotha Stanley, Camilla my wife and our sponsors and all of the folks who helped me pull this off. It took me nearly 7-months but we did it!
Dr. Charles Taylor, the producer of “Leaders of Madison’s Black Renaissance.”
Hues: Some of the more pessimistic members of our community felt that Black Renaissance was too optimistic/rose-colored glasses. How would you respond to that?
Taylor: That’s why I presented both sides. At least five of the interviewees raised doubts whether Madison was experiencing a Black renaissance. I even wrote in the script that we would let the viewer decide as the film introduced them to nearly 40 of Madison’s Black trailblazers. The film ended with Gloria Ladson-Billings suggesting that it was too soon to determine if there was a renaissance and perhaps after the passage of more time we could make a better assessment. Having said that, it’s sort of like describing the glass half empty or half-full. We know there is something incredible happening in our city that never happened in this manner before and whether you label it as a renaissance or something else, you can’t deny that Blacks are impacting Madison and beyond in innovative ways.
Hues: How has Black Renaissance been received at film festivals and other places in the U.S. and beyond?
Taylor: It was selected by eight film festivals including two overseas. It won Best Documentary in a Chicago area film festival. It was a finalist and semi-finalist in others. That was encouraging to me because typically positive films about Black people aren’t rewarded. The film generated a lot of positive vibe about Madison and I had both Blacks and Whites tell me they wanted to move here. The film came out towards the tail end of COVID-19 so a lot of festivals were canceled or scaled back. I attended some by zoom and there were three I had to withdraw from because of scheduling conflicts. It was a wonderful experience and one that I will long cherish but again at my age everything is work and I keep promising my wife and family that I will cut back.
Hues: Has your thesis behind making the film still holding up? Did you get everything right the first time around?
Taylor: My thesis was simple and it originates from reconstruction when our Black ancestors said after their enslavement ended: “Just give us some land” and we’ll be all right. We’ll show you we can be independent and contributors to society.” Blacks have always made a difference but were never acknowledged for their contributions. It’s a matter of having opportunities and resources. If you give Black folks those two things anywhere on the planet, Blacks will excel. I was just pleased to find that the 40 Black leaders I included in the film could have easily been increased to 100 or 150 or more. But you wouldn’t know that if all you hear or read about is crime and sports when it comes to the Black community. If we didn’t have the baggage of racism to deal with, wow what a city and state we could become. In terms of getting everything right, no one film will ever achieve that. Did I raise awareness? I think so. Will future generations be able to look back on this period as a turning point-perhaps. I’m just happy that I was able to contribute to the conversation and leave a bit of history for future generations.
Hues: Anything else you would like to get the Hues readership to know?
Taylor: If they haven’t seen the film and the important work that our local leaders are engaged in, I would urge them to do so and celebrate the great Black history that is taking place in our own back yard:. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/leadersofmadisonsblack
On February 16, the Fitchburg Senior Center will be showing “Leaders of Madison’s Black Renaissance” as a part of its Black History Month celebration. The event is 1-3:30 p.m. at the center, 55110 Lacy Road. It is free and open to the public.