Beverley Manley Uncensored Film Screening and Discussion
A Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program (LACS) Public Issues Forum funded by the US Department of Education’s Title VI UISFL grant.
As the wife of Jamaica’s former Prime Minister, Beverley Manley Duncan conversed with global players such as Fidel Castro, Winnie Mandela, and Pierre Trudeau. In this no-stone-unturned documentary, Beverley forces herself to confront her complicated past. What was it like to be a Black woman seated at the table? Does she play a pivotal or supporting role? As a Black nationalist, she wore large Afros and head turbans in corridors of power where they were typically not welcomed. She is controversial in her outspoken views of women’s sexuality, infidelity, and domestic abuse. She is a powerful voice with wisdom to teach the ages. She is a critical link to where we have come from and a seer of where we might be going. The film Beverley Manley Uncensored lies at the complex intersection of race, class, gender, politics, and global power in a post-colonial society. Join us for a riveting film screening in McGraw Hall and live discussion with Beverley Manley and the filmmaker Joelle Simone Powe, both of whom will join us virtually.
Beverley Manley Duncan is the former first lady of Jamaica’s most famous Prime Minister, Michael Manley. As a champion for Women’s Rights and Black Nationalism, Mrs. Manley implemented changes that radically transformed Jamaican society in the 1970s by founding the Jamaican Women’s Movement, introducing paid maternity leave and equal pay for equal work statutes. She is a keen eyewitness of the most tumultuous decade in Jamaican political history. In 2012, she published her autobiography, the Manley Memoirs, to great discussion and acclaim. The book created shock waves across the Caribbean and diaspora. The four-part docu-series Beverley Manley Uncensored, on Beverley’s life and work, garnered half a million views and sparked a national debate with its intimate interviews and historical reflections.
“The entire country has been waiting to hear from the former wife of late Prime Minister Michael Manley. Beverley Manley Duncan has much to say about sex, politics, classism, imperialism, and political violence”
-The Jamaica Gleaner 2022
Joelle Simone Powe is an accomplished documentary film director, writer, and researcher from Jamaica. Her work explores controversial personalities and topics in Caribbean history and culture. Her debut documentary, “Out There Without Fear,” explores Jamaica’s Dancehall dance. Her subsequent work, “Beverley Manley Uncensored,” a four-part docu-series on the former First Lady of Jamaica, created a national storm with its exploration of a very vexing time in Jamaican history. Joelle is the founder of Out There Without Fear Dialogues, an educational platform that illuminates Caribbean stories through film, performance, and discussion with regional voices. Her events showcase diverse points of view and challenge academics and students to participate in a robust discussion on issues of race, culture, gender, politics, and international relations.
