TAKE FLIGHT is an artistic film about Black agency (escaping all forms of captivity) by way of strength from Ancestral Spirits and veneration and the duality of their existence alongside us today. By weaving in aspects of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn’s story, this film honors all ancestors who came before us by way of Africa, through the perils of slavery and forced resilience with evidence of home still alive in their souls. That same power has been passed down to their descendants—fierce and sure standing—because of their determination toward freedom. With Aneb Kgositsile’s poem, Sacraments as narration, the imagery of TAKE FLIGHT captures the fullness of Black awakening, glory and splendor.
“One of these mornings
You’re gonna rise up singing
Then you’ll spread yo’ wings
and you’ll take to the sky.”
—“Summertime”, Heyward and Gershwin, 1935
