Descendant (Netflix, 2022)
Won Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award
The past and the truth are always present.
History exists beyond what is written. The Africatown residents in Mobile, Alabama have shared stories about their origins for generations. Their community was founded by enslaved ancestors who were transported in 1860 aboard the last known and illegal slave ship, the Clotilda. Though the ship was intentionally destroyed upon arrival, its memory and legacy weren’t. Now, the long-awaited discovery of the Clotilda’s remains offers this community a tangible link to their ancestors and validation of a history so many tried to bury.
The Film: In Descendant, award-winning filmmaker Margaret Brown returns to her hometown of Mobile, Alabama, to document the search for and historic discovery of the Clotilda, the last known ship to arrive in the United States, illegally carrying 110 kidnapped Africans.
The Campaign: Partnering with community-led organizations, the campaign worked to preserve and document the legacy of the ancestors of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to bring captives from Africa to the United States, while combating environmental issues threatening the community now residing in Africatown, Alabama.
The Results: The campaign advanced the community’s environmental justice advocacy efforts by strengthening relationships between community leaders and national campaign partners, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Office of the Vice President and the Council on Environmental Quality.
The Meaher family (descendants of Timothy Meaher, who led the voyage that enslaved those on the Clotilda) released their first ever public statement condemning their ancestor’s actions.
The Africatown Futures Fund and cohort, in partnership with the Big We and the Solutions Project, was established to build a long-term commitment to support economic development, environmental justice and historical preservation in the community.
To learn more about the film and impact campaign, check out the full case study here.
digital content produced
Working with Whetstone, we produced a three-part series called “The Descendant Cookout” hosted by Stephen Satterfield (host of HIGH ON THE HOG). The cookout served as a roundtable for descendants like Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and his family, activists, and Africatown residents to discuss issues facing their community.
We also launched the #DescendantChallenge with Former First Lady Michelle Obama (57M followers) and Stephen Satterfield to encourage audiences to capture and preserve oral history stories of their own family members. We secured a segment on the Kelly Clarkson Show.
