Directed by: Gordon S Williams Written by: Gordon S Williams Genre: Documentary Connect:
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They Will Talk About Us: The Charlton-Pollard Story
"It takes a village," says a resident of Beaumont, Texas. Recalling how the elders of the town would keep the young ones in line, and that was before they even got home. Then they'd get it from their Mothers - and that's how it was. Beaumont is the oldest black community in Texas, and the town's livelihood was the Paper Mill. Beaumont is, after all, a lumber town. Another of the residents says that they didn't know they were poor; they just thought that life was that way for everybody. That statement really hit me hard. Much harder than I would have thought.
Regardless of this, Beaumont's pride is part of everyone's DNA. Let's talk football for a second, shall we? Beaumont has had more players make the NFL than any other town in America! How do you like that, huh? Hometown pride! If I'm being honest, "They Will Talk About Us: The Charlton-Pollard Story" actually makes me want to go and visit this town. Shall we also talk about music? Irving Street is compared to Las Vegas because of all the huge names that have passed through. Ike and Tina, James Brown, etc. They said that you couldn't even drive down the streets because it was so jam-packed with people taking in the music. However, the most significant source of pride for this little town is education. The Charlton-Pollard high school was a huge part of the story of this little town. Some younger residents feel as though this part of their history is ignored - even though many people have thrived in many fields. This is an excellent little documentary that is very well done from a production point of view - full of passionate interviews and photographs. The pride these people feel made me think of my own hometown. Of course, there's never enough time to tell the full story. I highly recommend this film and believe it has earned its four-star review. Well done, and thank you for reading. |
