U.S. Politics Through Documentary Film - Lalee's Kin Summary

Lalee’s Kin Summary For our independent choice film, I chose to view the documentary Lalee’s Kin, which is set in the Mississippi Delta and was filmed during the 2000s. I make specific mention of the year because this film deals with the lives of Black Americans who live in the South and are still facing intense repercussions of slavery; in fact, very little has changed since the institution was abolished hundreds of years ago. The members of the community still refer to the cotton fields as the “White Man’s land” (Dickson, Fromke, and Maysles 0:01) and there are still huge educational disparities between the white and Black communities mainly due to the fact that, up until a few years ago, Black children were still forced to leave school during peak cotton season in order to assist their parents. Therefore, Black children in in Tallahatchie County are extremely undereducated, which is exactly what the white people want so that Black Americans in the community will continue to pick cotton at extremely low prices. The documentary focuses specifically on Lalee’s life, including those of her eleven kids, thirty-eight grandkids, and fifteen great grandkids who circulate in and out of Lalee’s home in order to receive care (Dickson, Fromke, and Maysles 00:11). The other plotline of the film is centered around the Tallahatchie School District that is now under the control of a new Superintendent, Reggie Barnes, who was appointed to get the school district off of the probation list for schools with test scores that are too low (Dickson, Fromke, and Maysles 00:09). Barnes is clearly a very passionate man who wants to uplift the Black community through education, yet he faces various struggles like a lack of funding and the knowledge that the kids’ personal lives prevent huge barriers for them to do well in school (Dickson, Fromke, and Maysles 00:14). Lalee’s life, as well as the lives of her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids, are clear examples of kind of people who struggle in school because of their immense difficulties in their home lives, though Lalee is clear throughout the film that she acknowledges the massive importance of education and she tries her very hardest to ensure all of the children in her family have the means to attend school. In a particularly moving scene, Cassandra (known to her family as Granny) is crying because she does not have paper or pencils to be able to go to school. Lalee, who does not have the money to buy her even those simple supplies, searches around her house and even calls up a friend in order to find the kids the supplies they need to get their education (Dickson, Fromke, and Maysles 00:35). The documentary closely follows Granny’s life towards the middle to end of the film and tells the story of her moving in with her grandfather, Von Reese, and her Auntie Michelle. Granny moves out of her mother/grandmother’s house because she cannot focus on her schoolwork and is always forced to do work around the house, like washing clothes or babysitting the younger children (Dickson, Fromke, and Maysles 01:00). When she moves in with Von, her grades don’t improve much, however when she ultimately moves to Tennessee with Auntie Michelle, she receives a B+ average for seventh grade and has dreams of going to college and nursing school (Dickson, Fromke, and Maysles 01:25). Granny’s story proves Barnes’s theory correct: the home lives of the children in Tallahatchie County significantly affects their in-school performances. We learn that the Tallahatchie County School District does achieve high enough scores to get them off of the probation list, however, they still have more work to do in order to move from the “warning” category into the “functioning” category (Dickson, Fromke, and Maysles 01:16). However, we also learn that Lalee’s youngest son Eddie has been arrested for the possession of crack cocaine (Dickson, Fromke, and Maysles 01:18). Therefore, I would argue that the tensions in Lalee’s Kin are never truly resolved, and the documentary tells a story of real life that ultimately has no solution.