Join the creative team behind feature film Austin Black Freedom Communities for an afternoon discussion on the history of Austin's original 13+ Black Freedom Communities, including Clarksville, Wheatville and Southside. Director Funmi Ogunro, alongside her collaborators, will give you a peek behind the lens, all while dropping crucial Austin history gems.

The talk will be hosted digitally via Zoom from 1 to 3 PM CT on Saturday, August 15. Attendees can expect a:

• deep dive into the history Austin’s Black Freedom Communities

• look at what this means for Austin’s present-day

• behind-the-scenes look at the Austin Black Freedom Communities documentary

All are welcome. :)

PS: You can contribute to and learn more about the Austin Black Freedom Communities film on their gofundme.

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— MEET OUR FEATURED GUESTS —

Funmi Ogunro, Director/Editor

Funmi Ogunro is a Nigerian-American Emmy nominated film producer and editor from Austin, Texas. Funmi is a producer for Austin PBS. Most recently she served as the director of photography for Reflections on a Legacy: East 12th Street, a short documentary about the history of East 12th street. Her online comedy web series, Nneka The Uber Driver, was an official selection of the Women of the Lens 2017 Film Festival in London, England. Her short film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner: Naija Edition toured the United States and premiered at the 2016 Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. She is the creator of Art is Cool, a multi service organization specializing in photography, videography, documentary films. In addition to producing, Funmi Ogunro served as the host of Juneteenth Jamboree, a PBS production dedicated to the discussion of Texas Black History.

Tamar Price, Producer

Tamar Price is a creative producer based in Austin, Texas. Her narrative work includes the We Are: Short Film Series which premiered on Issa Rae Productions’ YouTube in 2017, and Yirga which screened at SXSW 2019, Palm Springs Short Fest, Indy Shorts, and more. Aside from her 9 to 5 at notable alt-weekly The Austin Chronicle, she continues to collaborate with creators and community to bring diverse projects like Untapped and Open Chair to Austin and beyond.

Cullen Cooper, Archival Production Associate

Cullen Cooper is a freelance consultant associated with the Urban Canon, LLC, a firm specializing in start-up consulting and business services. Cullen’s educational background consists of a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Prairie View A&M University and a Master of Business Administration from Rice University focusing on business strategy and entrepreneurship. Cullen’s passion and niche area of expertise is in genealogy research of African-American and Afro-Caribbean families of the African diaspora. He has since worked with local historians to research photos and documents to further develop media content in telling the stories of African descendants’ contributions to American society during the modern area.

Stephanie Lang, Research Associate/Curator

Stephanie L. Lang, is a 5th generation Austinite, writer, community curator and passionate advocate for social justice. In her current position as Program Administrator for The John L. Warfield Center for African & African American Studies at the University of Texas Ms. Lang has created community outreach programming that fosters relationships between UT and Austin community organizations through collaborations and other forms of support.

Most recently Ms. Lang founded RECLAIM, an organization that discovers and recovers narratives of black people throughout the diaspora and presents those narratives through a creative lens in the hopes of preserving these timeless and important legacies.

Rachel E. Winston, Archivist

Rachel E. Winston is an archivist and curator based out of Austin, TX. In her work, Rachel explores the documentation and representation of the Black Diaspora within cultural institutions, engages in public history projects and promotes archival activism.Rachel is an alumna of Davidson College, the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs, and The University of Texas at Austin. She currently works as the Black Diaspora Archivist at The University of Texas at Austin.

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— HOW TO RSVP —

All events in our Stay Home Club series require an individual RSVP and can be attended for free or by donation.

To donate when you RSVP, name your own ticket price during checkout. If you can’t donate right now (times are swirly! we get it!), but you'd like to support our recovery efforts, you can: 

• support our partners

• become a member when we launch our membership program later this year

• or donate later. :)

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— VIRTUAL ACCESSIBILITY NOTES —

This event will occur on Zoom, requires Wi-Fi to attend, and can be accessed using a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. You will be muted but are welcome to have your video on and make full use of the chat! Closed captioning will be provided. A link to the event’s virtual room will be sent at least 24 hours in advance. If you need any additional accommodations, you can let us know by emailing thebabes@bossbabes.org. We'd love to hear from ya!

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— MEET THE PRODUCERS —

About bbatx (#bossbabesATX): We amplify women and nonbinary creatives, entrepreneurs and leaders in Texas. At bbatx, we believe that representation, education and intersectionality make for more resilient leaders and communities. So, through conferences, markets, festivals and meet-ups, we create spaces to share our crafts, find collaborators, learn new skills, seek guidance and provide each other with practical and emotional resources. Our programs showcase, educate and connect 1500+ emerging women and nonbinary creatives, entrepreneurs and leaders per year. Beyond the opportunities we offer, our exhibitions and events are attended by 20,000+ community members per year (including you!). Learn more and get involved at bossbabes.org.