What role does storytelling play in preserving history?
That was the question I found myself asking after attending the Indiana Black Expo Black Film Festival, part of the organization’s annual Summer Celebration. This year’s theme, Beyond the Frame: Black Voices Amplified, invited audiences to experience Black history and culture through documentary and narrative film.
Six featured films explored different dimensions of the Black experience. Two stayed with me long after the festival ended: “One Month Isn’t Enough” and “Getting Wins.”
Although different in subject matter, both films challenged me to think differently about historical awareness. One encouraged me to reflect on the stories we remember. The other reminded me that history continues to shape the present.
‘One month isn’t enough:’ Expanding the story of Black Hoosiers
“One Month Isn’t Enough” is a powerful exploration of the rich yet often overlooked legacy of Black Hoosiers. The documentary demonstrates that Black history in Indiana extends far beyond the confines of February, illustrating how African Americans have helped shape Indiana’s identity, rooted not only in struggle and resistance, but also in community, innovation, and enduring impact.
Rather than simply presenting historical events, the documentary challenged viewers with three questions: Where did you come from? What did you accomplish? What contribution did you make to the world? At first glance, they seem deeply personal. Throughout the documentary, they became a framework for understanding the legacy of Black Hoosiers.
The film also shines a well-deserved spotlight on Madam C.J. Walker and the cultural legacy of Indiana Avenue, stories that represent entrepreneurship, resilience, and a community that flourished despite extraordinary barriers.
As I reflected on the documentary, I found myself asking a fourth question: What stories have we not yet told?
Madam C.J. Walker and Indiana Avenue are among the most recognizable chapters of Indiana’s Black history, but they should not become the boundaries of it. Across Indiana are countless untold stories of educators, veterans, scientists, entrepreneurs, and everyday citizens whose contributions remain largely unknown.
Historical awareness requires more than preserving the stories we already know. It also requires the curiosity to uncover the stories we have yet to tell. Black history is not a finished collection of well-known names and places. It is an ongoing journey of discovery.
‘Getting Wins’: When history continues to move
While “One Month Isn’t Enough” encouraged me to reflect on the past, “Getting Wins” reminded me that history is still unfolding. The documentary follows the Southern Movement Committee, a grassroots organization in Nashville, Tennessee, and how ordinary people are building collective power through community organizing, co-governance, and civic engagement to transform their neighborhoods.
Following the screening, a panel discussion with director Jordan Johnson and Erica Perry, executive director of the Southern Movement Committee, resonated with me most in how the legacy of the Black Panther Party continues to influence present-day organizing, not as a completed chapter but as ideas still inspiring new generations.
For me, this documentary represented Black History in motion. Too often, we think of history as something confined to museums and textbooks. Yet history is also found in community meetings and in the people working every day to improve the lives of those around them.
Watching “Getting Wins” reminded me that today’s organizers are not simply studying history. They are becoming part of it. If “One Month Isn’t Enough” asked us to reflect on the legacies we inherit, “Getting Wins” challenged us to consider the legacies we are creating.
Beyond the frame
As I left the film festival, I kept returning to this year’s theme: Beyond the Frame: Black Voices Amplified. For me, the theme extends beyond filmmaking. Historical awareness also requires us to look beyond the frame.
Beyond the familiar names. Beyond the stories we revisit every February. Beyond the narratives we’ve grown comfortable telling.
The Indiana Black Expo Black Film Festival reminded me that storytelling does more than preserve history. It develops historical awareness by introducing us to voices and experiences that might otherwise remain unknown and inspires us to keep asking better questions about the past and the present.
History isn’t only something we inherit. It’s something we continue to discover, preserve, and share.
Brittany Wilkins is a Black history educator and founder of Historians Connect. She hosts a black history podcast Black Washed History.
