Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Student-Made Documentary Explores Elders' Wisdom

Aired May 05, 2001 - 09:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, how many times have we heard the advice, respect your elders? Well, if you think about it, they've lived a lot longer than most people, and listening to their stories and advice on life can not only be an academic experience but a historic and soulful one.

Just ask 14-year-old Benjamin Brisbane. He and his fellow students at Stone Mountain Charter School teamed up with Jan Selman, executive director of the DeKalb Council for the Arts here in Atlanta and produced "Living History: The Shermantown Project," a documentary researched, shot, and edited by Benjamin and his classmates with the hope to be moved and motivated by the lives of their elders.

Thanks, you guys, both, for being with us.

JAN SELMAN, GEORGIA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS: Good morning.

PHILLIPS: So did you have a good time?

BENJAMIN BRISBANE, STONE MOUNTAIN CHARTER SCHOOL STUDENT: Yes, ma'am.

PHILLIPS: How did you research for this? How did you gain the information and start on the project?

BRISBANE: Well, first we actually looked in the library. What we found -- about we could never find information as far as Shermantown. We seen information on Stone Mountain, but not in the specific area that we was looking for. And it just happened that didn't -- "The Atlanta Journal Constitution," they had written a column about the city, and so we just basically took some of that information from there, and then we went on from there and actually went to the elders.

PHILLIPS: And went to the elders and talked to them.

And Jan, why -- tell us a little bit about Shermantown and the Civil War connection, and why this area for the kids?

SELMAN: Well, this is the school for that community, and we wanted the work to be relevant to their community. And there's a fast-disappearing history, and we wanted to document that and keep a permanent record and oral history. And when Sherman came to Atlanta and freed the slaves, one of the people from that area went with him to Savannah to help draft the "40 acres and a mule," and came back, and they named that village Shermantown after him, they were so happy about it. And it was very -- it's a very exciting story.

PHILLIPS: And speaking of exciting stories, Benjamin, you met with these seniors, some of them living in this area more than 80 years. What are some things you remember? What are some of the questions you asked, and what sticks out in your mind?

BRISBANE: Well, one thing we asked was about the Ku Klux Klan, because they did a lot of rallies and marching there, they actually -- every Labor Day they did an annual rally. And they would march through the entire town. We also talked about the Ku Klux Klan as far as, you know, Stone Mountain. They also had a rally on top of Stone Mountain.

And we had learned that Venable (ph), which is the lead -- the Ku Klux Klan had actually had us own the store. And the store was where everyone went to, and they played with his children, they didn't mess with him, and they didn't mess with his life, where on TV, we see that it do all these bad things, but you don't never see that. They say, Well, if you mess with us, then we won't mess with you, man. That's how it pretty much was, that's one thing that stick out with me.

PHILLIPS: One of the stories that the Ku Klux Klan.

All right, we're going to show a little piece from the documentary that you guys put together. I believe this is Mr. Charlie, and he was asked about the holidays. And let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LIVING HISTORY: THE SHERMANTOWN PROJECT")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What were your memories of Fourth of July, Labor Day, and Christmas?

CHARLIE STEWART: Well, Christmas, I -- we had a Christmas that y'all never -- probably you ever thought about. We got one apple, we got one orange, and we got one piece of candy, probably one or two nuts for Christmas. At dawn we get one pair of shoes a year. We wear them to school, when we get out of school, you get bare feet. You didn't play in your shoes. And you get one pair of pant. We would shoot marbles, we had (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- and your knees be on the ground. That's the way it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, how did that impact you when you found out only one pair of shoes a year, one piece of candy for Christmas?

BRISBANE: Well, I was thinking that we ought to be grateful for the things that we do get, because a lot of times we as children take for granted what we do get now. And lot of times, like he say, Christmas, now we get -- some people get pairs of shoes every week, every month, while they only got it for once a year, and they had to wear it for an entire year.

And I thought that we are so grateful to have the things that we do have when a lot of things they didn't have. And some of the things that we do, they didn't do, some of the things that they did do, we don't do. And I was just grateful.

PHILLIPS: Jan, are you excited about how the kids have been impacted by these seniors? What are some neat stories that you gained through watching what they've learned?

SELMAN: It was interesting to us, because one little girl said there, she was afraid of doing this project because she didn't know any elderly people. And at the end of the project, we asked what you had learned, and she said, "I learned that elderly are very wise, and it was so comfortable I could have curled up and stayed there all day."

And I think it's interesting that at the end of the project, they just joined hands, and there was a spontaneous sort of prayer, spiritual thing, that happened among everybody. And it was quite remarkable.

PHILLIPS: Wow. So before we let you go, Benjamin, what do you think is the best piece of advice you learned from these elders?

BRISBANE: I don't remember anything right now, just know they say, Don't take things for granted, and be thankful for the things that you do have.

PHILLIPS: Very nice. Jan Selman, Benjamin Brisbane, thank you so much for being with us, you guys. It's a neat documentary. I enjoyed it very much.

SELMAN: Thank you.

BRISBANE: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com