Austin Black Freedom Communities
A Feature-Length Documentary
We are currently in production. If you’d like to make a donation, click here.
Austin Black Freedom Communities is a feature-length documentary currently in pre-production. This is an ongoing project through 2025. Austin Black Freedom Communities are communities built in Austin, Texas and surrounding areas by formerly enslaved African Americans after the civil war ended in 1865. These communities were built with little resources from the ground up and included churches, schools, and stores.
The congregation of Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church - Year Unknown
Austin Public Library - George Washington Caver Museum
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What are Austin Black Freedom Communities?
Watch the concept trailer above and then read a few quick facts below.
#1 What are Freedom Communities?
Freedom Communities are communities built by former enslaved African Americans after the civil war ended in 1865. These communities were built with little resources from the ground up and included churches, schools, and stores.
#2 Where were the Freedom Communities located?
There were over 15 freedom communities located in Austin and Travis County. Learn more here. Check out a map that lists some of the communities here.
#3 Who is producing the documentary?
Austin-based nonprofit Outreach Productions, in partnership with Art is Cool, is producing the documentary about Austin Black Freedom Communities. Currently, both organizations are conducting research and raising money for the documentary. Your donation will be vital in helping to cover the costs of interviewing historians, archaeologists, native Austinites, and people with direct ties to Austin Black Freedom Communities.
#4 How can I watch the film?
The documentary will be complete by 2025. The team will submit to national and international film festivals. The next step is to secure national distribution (PBS) You can win a ticket to be a part of the private screening during our film festival circuit in 2025. We will pick random individuals that have donated on GoFundMe.
#5 How can I support?
We are currently raising money via GoFundMe. Click here to make a donation. If you are interested in partnering with us or becoming a sponsor, contact us here. We will provide you with a pitch/sponsorship deck.
HI, I’m Funmi!
Director - Austin Black Freedom Communities (The Film)
Like most people in Austin, I grew up not knowing the history of Black people in our city. It was only a few years ago when I learned about over 13 Black Freedom Communities that were part of our city’s establishment after the Civil War ended in 1865. Clarksville, Wheatville, and Southside — to name a few.
In Freedom Communities, emancipated African Americans built lives in rights-protected areas, often next to the plantation where they had been held. They were followed by hundreds of emancipated African Americans from elsewhere who sought work, refuge, and missing family members. Here, thriving communities were built from the ground up, including Black schools, Black churches and Black stores.
In the 1920s, these same people were displaced from the communities they built, because of discriminatory city mandates. Today, these same regions are some of Austin’s most prominent neighborhoods, and the legacy of Black people has been overlooked.
The documentary brings light to the resilience of Black people, their resourcefulness in creating strong communities, and their important contribution to the development of the city of Austin, Texas.
Thank you for helping see this documentary get made so the history of Austin Black Freedom Communities is recorded and shared! Click here to make a donation!
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