Original Thinkers: Virtual Screening of “Tangled Roots”+ Q&A, Now – 7/11!

08 Jul Original Thinkers: Virtual Screening of “Tangled Roots”+ Q&A, Now – 7/11!

Telluride-based Original Thinkers is a thoughtful ideas festival regularly scheduled for September 30 – October 3, 2021, in Telluride – and this year, virtually October 1 – October 31.

The weekend generally features 10 programs, each built around a particular idea explored through a compelling mix of speakers, films, performance, and art. The program typically delves into the human condition by focusing on the intersection of ideas and individual stories.

Go here to watch a trailer for “Tangled Roots” and a Q&A with Samantha Knowles and KY Rep. Attica Scott. The program is available on a pay-what-you-can basis, as Original Thinkers hopes to make it accessible to as many folks as possible. Proceeds will go to pay the filmmaker and cover streaming costs.

The following is a note from Laura Shaunette, Program Director, Original Thinkers, about the upcoming event.

More from Original Thinkers here.

Greetings Original Thinkers,

In 2018, a viral video of a high school wrestler being forced to cut his dreadlocks before a meet was met with national outrage, shining light on a form of oppression Black people faced for something seemingly innocuous – their hair. The virtual film screening this weekend will focus on the journey of Kentucky Representative Attica Scott, the only Black woman in Kentucky legislature at the time of filming, as she fights to dismantle these discriminatory systems.

Aptly titled “Tangled Roots,” we learn the history of these harmful laws and follow Rep.Scott’s journey to raise awareness, garner support from her fellow representatives and rally communities to give a voice to those who have been impacted by them.

Following the film, we are joined in conversation with Rep. Scott, as well as Samantha Knowles, the young filmmaker behind “Tangled Roots” who recently was recently featured by Queen Latifah’s “Queen Collective.”

We hope you will check it out as this story is so thoughtfully told – over the course of 19 minutes, viewers will certainly go on a journey of anger, inspiration, disappointment and hope.

This work is far from being over, and voices like Rep. Scott’s will only continue to lead the charge.

Thanks for reading – see you (virtually) this weekend.

All my best,

Laura