This film is a short story of America—a small offering to face history and ourselves while repairing and reconstructing our shared future.
Gigi Lucas, St. Augustine Beach
At dawn, St. Augustine Beach, Florida, we enter the waters alongside Gigi Lucas. Only 56 years earlier, at the exact location, a group of 75 white segregationists attacked 100 African Americans attempting to wade into the "White-only" water. A movement that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Peaceful Wade-In Protestors, St. Augustine Beach 1964
It is with a deep reverence for the bravery of the men, women, and children of the civil rights movement that we watch Gigi revel in this freedom. An experience that at one time, not long enough ago, was deemed unlawful.
A right, that by the laws of nature, belongs to everyone.
Gigi Lucas, Freedom Of Expression, St. Augustine Florida
Together we take responsibility for our universal history. We bear the cold, taste the salt of intolerance, and wade into the waters of change with conviction and compassion.
The prominence of our Nation's powerful voices of color continue to share their truth, and we are met with opportunity.
What will be the story of us; how do we learn it, how do we tell it; how does that lodge in us and shape how we live?
With an intimate understanding, to truly know the hurt of our history is to heal. A marriage of head and heart, and the deep work of humanity.
Film Premiere | On The Side Of Right
"Nobody in America can really be free, until all of us are free." -MLK
Credits
To learn more about #diversifying the lineup, visit
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4 comments
Dorletta Payton
Wow! You learn something new everyday!
I was not aware of the Civil Rights activities in St. Augustine not the efforts to have more Blacks involved in surfing there.
Thank you Gigi for your efforts in surfing and for sharing this important history!
Wow! You learn something new everyday!
I was not aware of the Civil Rights activities in St. Augustine not the efforts to have more Blacks involved in surfing there.
Thank you Gigi for your efforts in surfing and for sharing this important history!
Walter Coker
Gorgeous and important work, and yet so much remains to be done. Congratulations, and many thanks, to all involved!
Gorgeous and important work, and yet so much remains to be done. Congratulations, and many thanks, to all involved!
Nina
Beautiful. Powerful. Important. Thank you :)
Beautiful. Powerful. Important. Thank you :)
Juli
Wow, that was truly amazing. Thanks you Gigi, Alfred, Brendalyn and Seea for this and educating us on our civil rights history. The ocean is for everyone, beach access should never be denied. We have so far to go in racial and environmental justice. We need more films like this! 🙏🏽
Wow, that was truly amazing. Thanks you Gigi, Alfred, Brendalyn and Seea for this and educating us on our civil rights history. The ocean is for everyone, beach access should never be denied. We have so far to go in racial and environmental justice. We need more films like this! 🙏🏽