... But Then, She's Betty Carter / Gotta Make This Journey: Sweet Honey in the Rock

Presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series Documenting Michelle Parkerson. Learn more at cinema.ucla.edu.

In-person: Q&A with filmmaker Michelle Parkerson.

With the HIV/AIDS and crack epidemics in full swing in the mid-1980s, political activists and artists like the poet Essex Hemphill, and a young Michelle Parkerson herself, found vital refuge at the Enikalley Coffee House, a little known Black LGBTQ+ performing arts space in Washington, D.C. In her most recent documentary, Parkerson combines interviews with coffeehouse regulars who pass down “you had to be there” kinds of stories with archival stills and poetry readings re-enacted from Enikalley’s heyday. Parkerson’s affection for Enikalley and the people she encountered there, many of whom were lost to HIV/AIDs, shines through and ultimately makes a convincing case for why this community institution should be seen as a touchstone in queer cultural history.

DCP, color, 34 min. Director: Michelle Parkerson. With: Christopher Prince, Gregory Adams, Gregory Ford, Pamela A. Jafari, Wayson R. Jones.

Michelle Parkerson leans into her ongoing interest in Black women culture workers with this serene portrait of the daring and groundbreaking jazz vocalist Betty Carter, most well-known for her duets with Ray Charles (“Baby It’s Cold Outside”). The documentary features extended interviews with Carter about her 30-year career, and with bandleader Lionel Hampton, an early mentor. Parkerson switches between extended scenes of Carter performing to an enthusiastic crowd and sit-downs shot in extreme close-up where she speaks with a gauzy elocution that makes you lean in—to Carter's musical genius and her fierce dedication to personal and artistic independence.

DCP, color, 53 min. Director/Screenwriter: Michelle Parkerson. With: Betty Carter, Lionel Hampton, Curtis Lundy, Mulgrew Miller.

This public broadcasting-funded documentary about the dynamic acapella group Sweet Honey in the Rock intercuts between interviews with group members and a rousing performance at their ninth anniversary concert at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, Parkerson’s hometown. Parkerson, who is credited as the film’s producer, made use of facilities and personnel at the DC public television affiliate WETA and completed the film in just four months. Angela Davis, Alice Walker and Holly Near provide commentary on Sweet Honey’s deep resonance around the world and the footage of the audience speaks volumes about the power of song in the face of injustice.

DCP, color, 58 min. Director: Joseph Camp. With: Angela Davis, Alice Walker, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Yasmeen Williams, Evelyn Harris.