Award Supports Film of Black Star Line Recovery Efforts

Justin Dunnavant, assistant professor of anthropology, has received a $10,000 Chancellor’s Arts Initiative award in support of his forthcoming documentary “Black Star Rising.” 

The funds will enable Dunnavant and his team to film recovery efforts associated with Marcus Garvey’s Black Star Line.  Dunnavant describes these efforts as “an epic journey to reclaim a forgotten chapter of history as divers search for the sunken ships (to) uncover physical traces of Garvey’s dream of global Black empowerment.”

Above ground, the documentary shows how Garvey’s son Julius “continues the fight to clear his father’s name and expose the political schemes and FBI vendetta that sought to silence him” and includes new interviews with Dr. Julius Garvey.