WHITE WASH, a documentary film screening

Water Sports and Public Safety information Displays

Saturday, July 7, 2012, 1.00 to 4.00 pm

(Film screening and panel discussion at 2 pm; water sports, safety and environmental protection displays all afternoon)

California African American Museum at Exposition Park, Los Angeles

“White Wash” explores the complexity of race in America through the eyes of the ocean via the history of African Americans and water culture from slavery, civil rights wade-ins to surfing in contemporary times at sites in Santa Monica and Southern California. This historic, African American beach site some times known as the "Inkwell" is featured in the film. In examining the history of world water culture, and the history of black identity as it triumphs and evolves in the minds of black surfers, we learn about the power of transcending race as a constructive phenomenon. The story is narrated by Grammy Award winner Ben Harper, along with Tariq “Blackthought” Trotter of the Grammy Award winning hip hop group, The Roots who also provide the film’s musical score. Contemporary interviews filmed with professional and vocational surfers and scholars are woven together with historical archival film footage. Discussion following screening includes: Ted Woods, director; Rick Blocker, founder of BlackSurfing.com; Alison Rose Jefferson, Historian/UC Santa Barbara Doctoral Grad Student; and Andrea Kabwasa, surfer, artist and educator. Event sponsors (presently) include: California African American Museum and Heal the Bay. The Los Angeles County Lifeguards, the Black Surfers Collective, the Black Surfing Association, Los Angeles Black Underwater Explorers (LABUE) and other groups will feature displays.

If you miss the CAAM screening, come out to the Santa Monica Public Library screening on September 16.