Black, White & Us
Black, White & Us is one of the documentaries being screened this year by the Fort Myers Film Festival. Made by director Loki Mulholland (who directed An Uncomfortable Truth, the Best Documentary Feature winner at the 2018 Denton Black Film Festival), the 75-minute 2018 film explores racism in America through the lives of four white families who adopt African American children and must overcome their own inherent biases to become their advocates.
One of the families featured in the film is that of Curtis Linton, a Mormon man living in the predominately white part of Utah. Much to his surprise and chagrin, Linton’s world is changed when he and his wife adopt 
two African American children. After initially receiving praise for their decision, the Lintons begin to face the harsh reality of racism in their own community and country.
“Mulholland drives the central themes of his film home by keeping the spotlight on the families,” writes reviewer 
Madison Gray for the Denton Independent earlier this year. “The film describes how the majority of these families were uneducated and unprepared to deal with racism, and in doing so, shines a much-needed spotlight on how racism can impact any family, anywhere. As producer Curtis Linton remarks, ‘Love is not enough. There has to be 
knowledge. There has to be discovery.’”
“The experience of coming to terms with one’s own inherent racism in order to successfully lead your child of color through a white world is just one of the many important aspects of this film,” adds Howard Noel 
after watching the film. “It holds up to our eyes the reality of white privilege and shows us, who have it, that we really don’t understand what it is and how it works. However, viewing this documentary helps us greatly to come to that understanding and more importantly, an understanding of what young people of color feel, experience, and fear while going through each stage of life as a person of color in a white world.”
The documentary screens in the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 13.
April 2, 2019.
#BeYou@#FMFF.
About the Author
Tom Hall is both an amateur artist and aspiring novelist who writes art quest thrillers. He is in the final stages of completing his debut novel titled "Art Detective," a story that fictionalizes the discovery of the fabled billion-dollar Impressionist collection of Parisian art dealer Josse Bernheim-Jeune, thought by many to have perished during World War II when the collection's hiding place, Castle de Rastignac in southern France, was destroyed by the Wehrmacht in reprisal for attacks made by members of the Resistance operating in the area. A former tax attorney, Tom holds a bachelor's degree as well as both a juris doctorate and masters of laws in taxation from the University of Florida. Tom lives in Estero, Florida with his fiancee, Connie, and their four cats.