. . . .AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: “THE BESSEMER CUTOFF”

Black girls.

Never given value.

Never given credit.

Never given a chance.

Always stereotyped.

Always written off.

Always cutoff.

…before they have even begun.

The Bessemer Cutoff is a short beautiful film from the website The Bitter Southerner. One of a series of the Nowness Presents films, it gives a glimpse into the life of Jar’Derrica Kidd, who lives in Bessemer, Alabama, one of the most dangerous cities in America. She is a young Black girl who is graduating and ready to go out into the world. The 7:35 minute  film by Dillon Hayes, a film director and editor working in Birmingham, Alabama, touches on how so little is expected of Black girls and the odds they must prevail against to succeed in a world that often only offers them so many deaths by a thousand paper cuts.

“Why would you fear me?” asks 19-year-old Jar’Derrica Kidd. “If you do fear me, you fear a black girl who’s gonna build the world up.”

Hang in there, Jar’Derrica.

You are valued.

You are wanted.

There are still those who believe in you.

There are still those who love you.

SALUTARE.