Street roots
9
Dec. 5, 2014
s
LINDSTROM, from page 8
people were making that effort
S.Z.: What drew you to James Chasse’s
story?
B.L.: What really attracted me to “Alien
Boy” was the chance to tell two stories: one
is Jim’s personal life and the other is the
almost detective story about what exactly
happened that day. It was about crossing all
of the T’s and dotting all the I’s in terms of
the family’s civil suit and following the case
through all of it’s permutations.
How do you tell the story of a person who
is no longer alive? How do you get their
point of view and their special personality
into the film? And that was a question the
producer, Jason Renaud, editor, Andrew
Saunderson, director for photography, John
Campbell and I always ask ourselves: How
are we honoring Jim’s story? How are we
helping the audience understand him?
S.Z.: What are your thoughts about the
death of Michael Brown and the events in
Ferguson?
B.L.: The tragic, avoidable death of
Michael Brown of course reminds me of
what happened to James Chasse. In both
instances, police took drastic actions that
resulted in the deaths of unarmed men and,
after much public outcry, grand juries failed
to indict the officer or officers involved.
There are two responses by police and
local government that I think would go a
long way in making the public — and in
particular people of color and/or people
coping with mental illness — feel safer: 1.
Require all police officers to wear a camera.
2. In cases of alleged police misconduct,
require an outside special prosecutor to
present evidence to a grand jury. The first
measure would create at least the possibility
of an “objective truth” that would protect
the officers against false allegations and
protect the public against police cover-ups.
The second measure would alleviate the
untenable situation in which D.A.& now find
themselves: presenting cases to grand juries
against police officers who are, after all,
their colleagues.
My hope is that the justified outrage we
all feel after what happened to Michael
Brown and James Chasse could somehow be
focused and concentrated into meaningful
civic action. That, I think, is the best way to
honor the memories of these two men.
I saw on Facebook that three Portland
police officers had posted: “I am Darren
Wilson.” I’d like to think that somewhere in
our police force of over 600 officers, there
are at least three who would proclaim: “I am
Michael Brown” or “I am James Chasse.”
Because I know that many officers join the
force and put their lives on the line because
of a deep calling to protect the most
vulnerable in our community.
S.Z.: Mental health and, I would say
addiction, seem to be a couple of prevailing
themes in your work. What is your interest in
this topic? What draws you to your subjects?
person. They are more than just their worst,
weakest moments or their disease. There’s
more to them than th a t
S.Z.: Sure. You don’t hate someone because
they have diabetes and their blood sugar drops
and they pass out. You don’t do that when the
disease is diabetes...
B.L.: Exactly.
S.Z.: So you’re working on a new film?
B.L.: I was really lucky that my
grandparents, who were divorced, were both
B.L.: I am. I’m lucky to have received a
big parts of my life. My grandfather, his
grant from the Regional Arts & Culture
name was Maurice J. Hill, he was a
Council to make a film about an incredible
wonderful guy. In many ways he was like a
program at Coffee Creek Correctional
father to me. He was also a binge drinker.
Facility, which is the women’s prison in
He would go weeks and even months
Wilsonville. It’s called the Family
without a drink and then he would just d r i n k
Preservation Project What they do is they
until he was passed out
bring the children of the inmate moms into
There are large
the prisons two
stretches of my life
Saturdays a month for
when I would spend
these intense, three-
every weekend with
hour sessions where
them because my
the women get to be
mom worked nights. I had the chance, X would try
with their kids in a
would have this
community room.
to use
art form to try to
experience were we
There is no plexiglass
help te ll those stories: the
would have plans to
between mother and
go the Blazer game
humanity w ithin that person. child. They get to read
on Saturday night for They are more than just their to their kids, play
instance. I would
games, dance, eat,
worst, weakest moments or
show up at his
nap, cuddle. For those
their disease. There's more
apartment and he
precious three hours,
would just be
so them than th a t/'
they get to be moms
stumbling drunk. We
and the kids get to be
would still go to the
kids.
game. We would be
Another thing the
watching the game
program does is help
and then I would get a tap on the shoulder.
the women take an in-depth look at their
It would be security saying “will you come
lives and the choices they’ve made and
with me.” And they would say, “Your
really help them to understand that they are
grandpa passed o u t You’ve got to take him
people that made bad choices rather than
home.”
bad people. That is a huge distinction as we
all know. It’s hard to do anything from a
S.Z.: Wow. How old were you?
perspective of “I’m a bad person.” It’s much
'more empowering to do something from the
B.L.: I was like 9 or 10. So I had all of
idea of, “I’m a person who made a bad
these experiences where I would be in
choice perhaps around addiction and if can
public with that person: the whole
deal with my addiction issues, then my
restaurant or the whole crowd (wherever
choices continue to get better and better.”
you are) the whole crowd is looking at us,
The program does a lot of wonderful
“Whoa. That person is drunk.”
things including something called a
I think I had an early affinity to kind of
genogram, which is where each woman
understand what it feels like to be the one
diagrams her family history. They draw it,
that doesn’t fit in or is different
kind of like a personalized map. They decide
Through luck or God’s grace or whatever,
the main themes that have shaped their
lives. It could be mental illness or addiction
I dodged that biological bullet of being an
or abuse or trauma, a medical catastrophe -
addict, but I never forgot the humanity of
whatever it is. They make a family tree and
the person who is suffering.
show how all these different people have
I always thought that if I had the chance,
been impacted by i t It’s a really powerful
I would try to use my art form to try to help
tool that helps the women realize that there
tell those stories: the humanity within that
my
Projects
believes
nó 0(16
should have to be
Transition^
Projects 1
S
I
650 NW Irving S t
Portland, OR 97209
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501280.470©
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S.Z.: And it’s generational. Sometimes
grandma, mom, sister or child find themselves
in the same facility.
B.L.: Exactly, so these families are
scrambling to absorb the kid whose mom is
now in prison. And they aren’t all in
Portland (Coffee Creek is the only female
prison facility in the state of Oregon), so
some of the families (of the incarcerated)
are in Salem or Eugene or wherever, and
suddenly this already strapped family has to
absorb this child and then figure out how to
get the resources together to go to Coffee
Creek so the kid can have visitation with
mom.
The great thing about the Family
Preservation Project is that it provide gas
cards, which may not sound like a big deal,
b u t../
S.Z.: It’s huge.
B.L.: It’s the difference between a child
getting to see their mother or n o t The
program also-provides a small respite for
the child’s family caregiver. And this is huge
— it also provides early childhood education.
'Illese are families that if the schooling isn’t
paid for, it’s questionable if they could get
together the money to pay for preschool.
All of this (programming) is on the
chopping block. The department of
corrections has cut the program and it will
end on Jan. 3 .1 can’t understand how we, as
a society could possibly decide that this is a
good program to shut down.
I’ve done this enough (cinéma vèrtè
filmmaking) that I feel like I’ve got a pretty
good barometer when something is really
working and change is meaningful and
happening in front of me. I always feel like
that in this program.
sue@streetroots, org
PAID TRAINING
CENTRAL CITY
Transition
are forces outside themselves that
contributed to where they are and it doesn’t
in any way excuse their choices, but what it
does is it gives those choices a new
perspective.
I’ve been there as they present the
genogram to the class. You can almost see a
certain weight lifting as each woman shares
her genogram with the class. I’ve been so
impressed with the program. It’s all about
accountability and positive change. Not once
have I heard any of the women say, “Oh I
shouldn’t be in here” or “I didn’t do the
crime.” No. It’s like: “I have these issues
and this is what I’m doing to work on them.
These families are hard hit by addiction
or poverty.
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