episode
RAISED/RAZED is an hour-long documentary that dives deep into the history of Vinegar Hill - Charlottesville, Virginia's oldest African American neighborhood. Through oral history interviews, the film brings the neighborhood back to life and charts the lives of residents as they faced racially discriminatory policies and a city government that saw them as an obstacle to progress. For 100 years, Vinegar Hill thrived as a center of business, education, and religious and cultural life until it - like hundreds of Black communities across America - was destroyed. The documentary reveals the hard truths of federal urban renewal policies that were implemented in cities and towns across the country and the long-term impacts on communities and families. RAISED/RAZED draws connections between Vinegar Hill and Durham, North Carolina's Hayti neighborhood, which was also destroyed, to show how urban renewal generationally transformed the lives of people across the country. The film leaves viewers with the question of what can be done to reckon with this painful history.
