African Americans make up about 7 percent of San Antonio鈥檚 population, but they have made rich contributions to the fabric of the Alamo City.
Born Logic Allah, director and co-producer of 鈥� ," said one of the most important educational figures was Dolores B. Linton, who made something out of nothing for black children living on the west side of San Antonio.
鈥淪he convinced the parents there to let her take an old bar that was called Paradise Cove and then converted it into a school,鈥� said Logic Allah. 鈥淎nd that later became an actual school on the west side of San Antonio. They still have a .鈥�
in San Antonio is the only college in the U.S. to be categorized as a and a Hispanic serving institution.
The film鈥檚 producer, Aundar Ma鈥檃t, says the school got its start in 1898 as a sewing school for African American girls. 鈥淥f course, it expanded, and it expanded to the east,鈥� said Ma鈥檃t. He said Artemesia Brown played an important role in the expansion of the college. 鈥�(She) came here from North Carolina and served as the principal, a teacher, and a fundraiser, and for 52 years really helped to establish that institution, which has, in the film, referred to as 鈥榯he crown of the East Side.鈥欌��
San Antonio also has the distinction of holding the . The first march was organized by just two days after King鈥檚 assassination in 1968.
Logic Allah says the march 鈥渕orphed from a small march that took place on the East Side.鈥� When the City of San Antonio became involved in the march in 1987, Logic Allah said, 鈥渋t took on a life of its own...and it seems as if the words just really started to flow, and they really pushed and promoted it as a beacon of unity for the city, and so it really just grew over the years.鈥滿a鈥檃t said the MLK march should inspire community participation year-round. 鈥淭he question is, 鈥榟ow do we continue to take the march from being one day, but make it a movement that is a movement to elevate the lives of people throughout the year?鈥� 鈥�
At the film鈥檚 start, San Antonio poet wrote and performed the poem 鈥淲alk on the River.鈥�
But another important voice that moves the film along is Tony Jenkins.
Logic Allah says they happened upon Jenkins at a screening of their previous film, 鈥淎 Message the People: The Story of Malcolm X.鈥� 鈥�(Jenkins) and a friend of his, they were there early, so they purchased tickets, and we were just sitting there talking because they were the first people there, and we were saying, 鈥榳ow, he has a great voice!鈥� And so we knew that we were going to start working on 鈥榃alk on a River.鈥� So we approached him, and we said, 鈥榙o you think you would be interested in being a narrator?鈥� And he was like, 鈥榶eah, absolutely.鈥�
But when it came time to start production, Logic Allah wasn鈥檛 able to find Jenkins number, so they initially tried another narrator. 鈥淭hey did their best,鈥� said Logic Allah, 鈥渂ut we just weren鈥檛 satisfied...But one day I was looking through my phone, and I came across it and I emailed him and he jumped right on it, and he has been a Godsend...The film would not have been what it is had it not been for him.鈥�
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