Bioethics Screen Reflections: A NEW FILM BY CEDRIC O’BANNON

BACKLASH is the testimony of a ninety-nine year old Black American man — Mr. Oscar Carl Wright. He is a citizen leader of Oakland, California. It is an historical — but oh so current — film which director Cedric O’Bannon shares with us. It is a biography, not a documentary. This film is important because we hear the call for reparations around the world, but there can be no reconcilliation without truth and so — no reparations without that truth. Mr. Wright’s story is part of that truth. His career of what we now call activism, but in the past called survival, began dramatically when he was 12 years old. That was in Mississippi, just shy of a century ago.

BACKLASH is heading into the film festival fall circuit for 2021. In the spirit of full disclosure, once I understood the importance of this story and previewed the early footage, I felt I had to sign on as one of the projects producers. I needed to do this like I needed a hole in my head. But, as a bioethicist, geriatrician, filmmaker and writer — I am hardwired to hear, reflect, and produce the stories of elders.

Though born in Mississippi himself, as were his family before him, director O’Bannon was mostly raised near the foothills of the Sierra Mountain Range. His father is now an emeritus university professor and his mother has had a long career as a primary…