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The Documentary: Alvin Hall's other America

Alvin Hall's other America

29/06/2024 GMT

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Alvin Hall's other America

Alvin Hall reflects on the racial past and the divided present of Wakulla County, Florida

In his hometown of Wakulla County, Florida, writer Alvin Hall reflects on the racial tensions of rural America’s past and its divided present.

Writer Alvin Hall returns to Wakulla County, Florida, where he grew up to shed light on the political present and share a portrait of a disappearing way of life. it is an America most people do not know. it has long been deeply rural, a place of unspoilt wilderness and incredible natural beauty. But it has also been a place with a violent history of racial segregation and oppression. The security Alvin experienced as a child growing up in one of the county's self-sufficient Black “village” communities contrasts with the horrific racial violence he has only gained knowledge of as an adult. 

But change is coming. Since Alvin’s last visit almost 10 years ago unprecedented development has swept the county and it seems as if decades of racial division might really be starting to wear away. Is this really the beginning of the end?

Writer/presenter: Alvin Hall
Producer: Michael Umney
Executive producer: Susan Marling
Piano: Edmund May
Sound engineer: Chris O'Shaughnessy

(Photo: Alvin Hall in front of his childhood home. Credit: Kendall Messick)

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