Classic 'Daughters of the Dust' Remains a Timeless Tribute to the Past

Daughters of the Dust restored film poster.

Julie Dash's phenomenal Daughters of the Dust embraces the countless ways migration-- this magical realism film's essential theme-- has impacted the Black experience in America. This powerful, riveting narrative poetically touches on how ancient traditions of the Gullah passed down generation to generation and became lost in its fragile handling, evaporated in the midst of displacement, stolen, fresh saltwater Africans desperately grasping onto their history whilst building a new legacy.

Three women: Trula (Trula Hoosier, top left), Eula (Alva Rogers, center), and Yellow Mary (top right). 

Off the coast of South Carolina, on Ibo Island, the Peazant family is led by matriarch Nana, an elder tied to ritualistic healing methods that involve utilizing the earth and carrying spirits of the ancestors. The other women find her practices backward and downright laughable, seeming already influenced by mainland thoughts, one metaphorical migration that of a Westernized mindset. Things are about to change, however, because most of the Peazants plan to move to the safe haven of North-- where historically slaves believed a promised land from the violent South. The water is how they and their ancestors arrived and thus, how they shall leave on a boat by their choice. So the going away celebration goes underway. Men dressed in their best jackets and pants while women don elegant white Victorian lace except Nana who is not going with them. 

Viola is outraged at the talk of no heaven from Nana.

Approaching via boat themselves are Viola and Yellow Mary. They bring sophisticated worldliness and culture, delivering two different forms of education. Whereas the schooled Viola comes introducing Christianity and photography by the way of the enthusiastic Mr. Snead, the well traveled Yellow Mary has a companion named Trula and a series of harsh stories, including a family who tried to keep her like property. Viola lives in a bubble and Yellow Mary paints a grim reality. Yet few women are happy about Yellow Mary's return. She is quickly ostracized, mainly by Haager, a proud, sanctimonious woman married into the family. 

The Peazant girls have dreamy perceptions of what the North would be like.

Several stories are interwoven together during this last family gathering. Eula and are expecting a child (the Unborn Child), but Eli has trouble adjusting after Eula's horrific rape. The newlyweds are still in the love phase. Iona and St. Lucien Lastchild's forbidden romance is tested. Viola's Western religion versus Nana's "hoodoo" causes a huge fuss. Through it all, the narrating Unborn Child travels on the island, her euberic spirit interacting with several characters, Nana most importantly, before reaching her parents.

Many poignant scenes feature women in the cusp of each other's company, offering strength, wisdom, and pure joy.

This family tied by blood and honor on this sacred land are moving forward to the larger landscape, to merge in and blend with American society, reluctantly leaving Nana and the old time rituals behind. The visual language is just as relative as the letters being read, broken memories of spoken are taught, and wispy book pages filled with symbolic text are turned by fingers and magic wind. Indigo also has a journey, from the forever stained hands of dyers to the inked icons and the Unborn Child's ribbon, there is a history in this precious color. 

Black girls are reading, daydreaming, existing. 

This film is one of the first to truly capture the validity of Black women's voices and their bodies. They are presented in a humanizing, nuanced light, multifaceted, loving, nurturing, cynical. Their agency and purpose grants them more freedom and dialogue than the supporting men. Between fixing each other's hair, shucking corn and prepping okra, and having conversation, these sweet women are responsible for the heart and integrity of the family, keep it alive. Some stellar scenes include Yellow Mary, Trula, and Eula bonding beautifully, everyone kneeling down to kiss Nana's "hand" that contains her mother's hair, and Eula defiantly calling out the hypocrisy and standing up for Yellow Mary. It is such a shame that these talented actresses (Cora Lee Day, Barbara O, Alva Rogers) didn't pick up accolades for their tremendous efforts.

Still, Daughters of the Dust is a treat. After all, food activist/writer Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor makes a lovely cameo and she is the subject of one of Dash's future projects. 

Nana (Cora Lee Day) and Yellow Mary (Barbara O) share a tender moment.

Memorable, fully fleshed out characters, Arthur Jafa's gorgeous cinematography, creative hairstyles that depict the incredible versatility of Black women's hair, and the harrowing music that haunts the eardrums tie together Daughters of the Dust's impressive longevity. This award winning film is a pivotal piece of art that gives Black women pedestals to bravely share their candid stories of pain, sorrow, love, anger, and longing with each other. As Dash allows them to reflect on the new world up North, religion/spirituality, womanism, and heritage, there is a real, undeniable attention to dignity and grace in every scene. The thorough research, the genuine authenticity are reasons enough that this film is worth watching again and again.