Water
Produced by Kalimah Abioto, "Water" explores a young African American boy's experience playing outdoors, like boys who lived in Vanport would have done in the 1940's. He climbs and runs, plays marbles, tosses a baseball, and boxes. Soon, the boy sees rushing waters that foreshadow the Vanport Flood of 1948, and then we see the boy as a man, remembering rather than anticipating the flood of emotions he felt at the loss of his home. "Water" was produced as part of the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble's "From Maxville to Vanport" project. This concert of new songs and films celebrates the experience of blue-collar African American Oregonians in these two unique towns. It was funded by the Oregon Community Foundation's Creative Heights program, and sponsored by Oregon Historical Society. Presented in cooperation with the Vanport Mosaic.Jamear Shambry as young Ed Washington; Ed Washington as himself. Production assistance by Analise Cleopatra. Directed and produced by Kalimah Abioto, music by Ezra Weiss, performed by the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble. Learn more at http://pjce.org/maxville-to-vanport/.