The Clemente Course in the Humanities invites you to a private screening of A Reckoning in Boston as part of its 25th anniversary events. The 83-minute film will air at 6pm EDT, though you have the option to screen it anytime on Thursday, September 30. The screening will be followed by a live Q&A at 7:30 with producer Kafi Dixon; Clemente’s Executive Director, Lela Hilton; Boston Clemente Academic Director, Jack Cheng; and Patrick Rodriguez, a graduate of the Clemente Course in Atlanta. The Q&A will be available to view for 24 hours after it airs live.
Synopsis
Kafi Dixon and Carl Chandler enroll in the Clemente Course in Dorchester, MA, studying the humanities two nights a week with other adults. Kafi dreams of starting a land cooperative for women of color who have experienced trauma and disenfranchisement in the city of Boston. By day she drives a city bus. Carl, a community elder, is the class’s intellectual leader. White suburban filmmaker James Rutenbeck documents the students’ engagement with the humanities. He looks for transformations but is awakened to the violence, racism and gentrification that threaten Kafi and Carl's very place in the city. Troubled by his failure to bring the film together, he enlists the pair as collaborators with a share in the film revenues. Five years on, despite many obstacles, Kafi and Carl arrive at surprising new places in their lives—and James does too.
About Clemente
For 25 years, the Clemente Course in the Humanities has brought free college humanities courses to adults living on low incomes. Students explore literature, moral philosophy, U.S. history, art history, and writing in a supportive seminar environment. Tuition, books, and childcare are provided, and graduates can earn six credit hours for completing the course.
More than 10,000 people have taken a Clemente Course since its founding, and courses run today from Los Angeles to New York, rural Washington to Savannah, GA. Graduates tell us that Clemente represents a turning point in their lives. The course expands their worldviews and makes them better thinkers and writers. Some go on to earn college degrees. Others feel more prepared to support their children in their educational goals. Many use their increased skills and confidence to pursue new careers and to engage more actively in their communities.
The Boston Clemente Course has been hosted by the Codman Square Health Center in the Dorchester neighborhood since 2001, one of six Clemente sites supported by Mass Humanities.
In 2014-2015, filmmaker James Rutenbeck began documenting the Boston Clemente Course. He met Kafi Dixon and Carl Chandler and followed their stories outside of the classroom.
From the moment I stepped into that class, they made me feel that I was worthy. Knowing and being made to feel that we belong and that our voice and intelligence matter made all the difference.” – Lamont Smith, Board Member and 1997 Clemente Graduate, New York City