Dr. Shawn Utsey's documentary, "Meet Me in the Bottom: The Struggle to Reclaim Richmond's African Burial Grounds" aired on PBS

Dr. Shawn O. Utsey, Chair of the African American studies department, and a faculty member in the psychology department, was awarded the 2010 Virginia Independent Film Festival award for Best Documentary for his work titled "Meet Me in the Bottom: The Struggle to Reclaim Richmond's African Burial Grounds."  The documentary also won the Audience Choice Award during its February 28, 2010 showing.

The documentary is about the Burial Ground for Negroes (ca. 1750-1816) located north of Broad Street, between 15th and 16th Streets. The site is the oldest municipal cemetery for enslaved and free Blacks known to exist in the Richmond area.  An 1810 map shows the Negro Burial Ground near Broad Street and Shockoe Creek.  Today, the Burial Ground sits adjacent to a parking lot owned by VCU.  In fact, there are questions as to whether the Burial Ground lies beneath the parking lot. Activists and other groups have protested what is seen by many as a desecration of sacred ground. This documentary tells the story of community efforts aimed at reclaiming the Burial Ground as the final resting place of their ancestors.

The film won the Best Documentary category and the Audience Choice Award at the Virginia Independent Film Festival and has just been accepted for screening at the South Film Festival in Leigh, PA.  

The film was shown on PBS in May and June. To learn more about the documentary, view the press release.