Never Been a Time (2016)
Never Been a Time, a film by Denise Ward-Brown, explores the history and legacy of the 1917 East St Louis Massacre.
The premier of Never Been a Time (NBaT) coincided with the 100-year anniversary and refocuses attention on the importance of historical facts as a foundation to understand our present-day attitudes and understanding of our social fabric.
The documentary film, Never Been a Time, features interviews with historians, sociologists, local griots * and descendants along with readings of newspaper accounts and the transcript and from the 1917 US Congressional Hearings and the first-hand testimonies given to Ida B. Wells. Emotional grounding and contemporary interpretation for the atrocities comes from spoken-word selections.
Never Been a Time, relies heavily on the assertions of Dr. Charles Lumpkins' book, American Pogrom: The East St. Louis Race Riot and Black Politics. Lumpkins emphasizes the political activity and community-building within the established black community of East St Louis combined with the voting potential of newly arrived and oncoming Black migrants— (the Great Northward Migration) that threatened white power-brokers and CEOs of industry, who promoted racial fear and incited the violence.
Further, Lumpkins and the film challenges that replacing the term ‘race riot’ to ‘massacre’ may not be enough. The word ‘pogrom’** links the violence of chattel slavery to the 1917 East St Louis ‘race riot’ to the Red Summer of 1919 to the 1921 Tulsa Massacre – up through Jim Crow, the decades of lynchings to the police murders of unarmed Black folks today.
Why should what happened one-hundred-years ago matter today? Terry Kennedy, a descendant of the 1917 East St Louis violence, encourages us all to not only study the history of African Americans, but to study the empires and nations of the continent of Africa.
Kennedy says, “Study by itself is not enough. Get involved, that's the work. Working without study gives you no understanding of the work, and studying without work gives you no fruit of the study.”
* A griot is a West African historian, who maintains tradition of oral history through story, praise singer, poet, or musician.
** A pogrom is an assault, violence and/or expulsion condoned by officials, to destroy a community defined by ethnicity, race or some other social identity.
Film Stills
Daisy Westbrook letter: an authentic letter written in 1917 by a young African American woman who narrowly escaped death when a vicious mob entered her home.
Excerpt from New York Times report. July 17, 1917
Houses were burned to force people out directly into awaiting gun-fire.
Spoken Word Artists Featured in Never Been a Time
Listed in order of appearance
JASON N. VASSER
Jack-Salmon and Cat!
DAVID A. JACKSON
Our Testament
CELILLIANNE GREEN
I am Perfectly Black
POET CELILLIANNE GREEN
KATHRYN A. GORDON
I Need my White Privilege
MALI NEWMAN
Kicking it on Canfield Drive
WAHEEED ADBUL MUHAMIN
Spilled Blood Never Dries
CINDY “JUST CINDY” Reed
Beauty through Ashes: A Love Letter to East St. Louis
Community Members Featured
The documentary video Never Been a Time takes the one example of the 1917 East St. Louis Race Riot Pogrom to unpack hidden facts revealing the complexity of racism in all of America. We uncover the links between the worse massacre in American history that occurred in 1917 and the growing number of recent police shootings of African Americans: from Michael Brown to Philando Castile.
Dr. CHARLES LUMPKINS
The documentary film Never Been a Time relies heavily on the assertions of Charles Lumpkins’ book American Pogrom: The East St. Louis Race Riot and Black Politics. Lumpkins expands on previous books written about the 1917 violence in East St Louis. In his book, Lumpkins emphasizes the political activity and community-building within the established black community of East St Louis combined with the voting potential of newly arrived and oncoming black migrants—threatened white powerbrokers and CEOs of industry, who promoted racial fear and the violence.
Dr. ANDREA BOYLES
Ms. Boyles provides historical context for policing in America. This provides an understanding of the contemporary intersection of race, class, gender, incarceration, place and policing.
JOSEPH A. BROWN, SJ; Ph.D.
Born and raised in East St Louis Father Joseph Brown’s love of the city provides a solid foundation for compassion for the generations of residents.
MILTON S. WHARTON, Circuit Judge
Judge Wharton offers a unique legal perspective because he was born & raised in East St Louis and served as an elected judge for many years there. His measured countenance dissects all angles to the issues.
HARPER BARNES
Mr. Barnes has done extensive research through the eyes of a newspaper journalist. His interview with poet, scholar and long-time resident of East St Louis Eugene Redmond provides the titles of his book and for the video documentary, Never Been a Time.
Dr. EUGENE REDMOND
Eugene Redmond provided historical context as a life-long resident but also recited his poems dedicated to preserving the history of East St Louis and honoring the perseverance and of its people