Arts & Entertainment
The Black Count:
Oral History Focus of Video Workshop
Glory, Revolution, Betrayal and the Real
Count of Monte Cristo, by Tom Reiss
Learn HD Camera Free on September 29
Book Review by Kam Williams
“T
he original Alexandre Dumas
was born in 1762… in the
French sugar colony of Saint-
Domingue. [His] life is so extraordinary
on so many levels that it’s easy to forget
that it was led by a
black man, in a world
of whites, at the end
of the 18th Century.
His mother… was a
slave, and he himself
was
sold
into
bondage… by his
own father, an aristo-
crat…
[As] the son of a
marquis and a slave,
[he] had the unique
perspective of being
from the highest and
lowest ranks of soci-
ety at once… [He]
made it to France
and… on the eve of
the French Revolu-
tion… began a meteoric rise through the
ranks of the new revolutionary army.
[His] story brilliantly illuminates the
first true age of emancipation: a single
decade during which the French Revolu-
tion not only sought to end slavery and
discrimination based on skin color but also
broke down the ghetto walls and offered
Jews full civil and political rights.”
— Excerpted from the Prologue (pgs. 7-
12)
W
hen anyone mentions
Alexandre Dumas, they’re
ordinarily talking about the
author of such memorable novels as
“The Three Musketeers” and “The
Count of Monte Cristo”. What almost
nobody knows is that the great writer
shared his name with a father who
was perhaps more famous in his day,
a decorated military hero who led an
army of over 50,000 soldiers during
the French Revolution.
Thus, it is no surprise that the
exploits of the elder Dumas might
serve as the inspiration for much of
his son’s work, especially the afore-
mentioned classics, as well as the
lesser-known “Georges.” That thinly-
veiled biography of his dad revolves
around a young man of mixed race
from a French sugar colony who
makes his way to Paris where he
becomes a celebrated swordsman.
Unfortunately, the real-life Alex,
Sr. fell from grace and became lost in
obscurity because of ideological dif-
ferences with a fellow general,
Napoleon Bonaparte. For, Dumas
had considered theirs a people’s
struggle for worldwide liberation,
while his power-hungry comrade was
ostensibly more interested in world domi-
nation.
In addition, the statuesque Alexandre
was blessed with height and a magnificent
physique that left
the
diminutive
Napoleon feeling
more than a little
threatened. This
eventuated in the
latter’s having his
competitor igno-
miniously tossed
into a dungeon, ala
the protagonist of
“The Count of
Monte Cristo.”
Napoleon also
made sure to have
Dumas erased from
the history books, a
disservice belatedly
undone thanks to
the efforts of Tom
Reiss, author of
“The Black Count.” Reiss devoted a half-
dozen years to painstaking research to the
project, unearthing a cornucopia of aston-
ishing information from dusty archives en
route to penning a revealing and com-
pelling page-turner about an unsung icon
that time somehow forgot.
Vive la Dumas!
It’s easy to forget that
[Dumas’] life was led
by a black man, in a
world of whites, at the
end of the 18th
Century. His mother…
was a slave, and he
himself was sold into
bondage… by his
own father …
P
roviding tools to collect the oral histo-
ries of those in our community is the
current project of the North Portland
Multimedia Training Center (NPMTC). For
thousands of years, people have been col-
lecting and learning from oral information
passed down from one generation to the
next. Today, collecting oral histories pro-
vides a different kind of information than
what is found in history books: people’s
personal and subjective memories, their
narratives of lived experience, and their
own stories surrounding events in their lives
helping us understand who we are. Oral his-
tories bring multiple voices, including many
ignored or underrepresented voices, into
public conversations and the historical
record.
A free intensive workshop on Saturday,
September 29 from 9 A.M. – 5 P.M. is open
to the general public 18 years and over. The
workshop blends teaching the mechanics of
HD camera operation and the art of produc-
ing oral history in a one-day 8-hour work-
shop. The first topic used for the
project-based training will be “Life in Van-
port.” This is an outreach to the community
to capture any remaining stories about a lost
city, once an important part of Portland,
before it is too late.
The upcoming NPMTC workshop is
taught by Tim Rooney and Miae Kim,
experts in videography and oral history doc-
umentation. The NPMTC workshop takes
place at The Skanner, 415 N. Killingsworth,
Portland, 97217. “Life in Vanport” is spon-
sored by The Skanner Foundation and a
matching grant from Mt. Hood Cable Regu-
latory Commission.
For more information about the workshop
or to register, go to www.npmtc.com . You
may also email npmtc@comcast.net or call
and leave a message at 503-285-5555, x
521. Registration is required prior to work-
shop date.
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September 19, 2012
The Portland Skanner Page 7