The Black News Channel, a new 24/7 national cable news channel with a mission to look at today's issues and events from an African-American perspective, acquired the rights to broadcast my award-winning documentary Sacred Ground: The Battle For Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Sacred Ground: The Battle For Mount Auburn Cemetery is a feature-length documentary about a group of community activists and family members battling a Methodist church for control of historic Mount Auburn Cemetery. For years, Mount Auburn Cemetery was the only place in Baltimore where African-Americans could be buried. It is the final resting place of lightweight boxing champion Joe Gans, the first African-American world champion in any sport, and numerous leaders in the early civil rights movement. It is a registered historic landmark that had fallen into such horrifying decay that bones littered the ground and weeds covered all but the highest monuments. It is a tale of grave robbing, grave recycling and every other terrible thing that could possibly happen in a cemetery.
The film follows Lu Moorman, president of Preservation Alliance, an independent group of activists and family members, and her attempt to wrest control of the cemetery from its stewards, Sharp Street Memorial Church. Dating back to 1787, Sharp Street Memorial Church is one of the first African-American Methodist congregations. It was once the most influential African-American church in Baltimore, but its numbers have dwindled over the years and its financial resources have waned. The then pastor, Rev. Dell Hinton, appointed her father, Rev. Douglas Sands, head of the cemetery. They, too, had a plan to restore the cemetery with the help of Morgan State University, but who could ultimately be trusted to speak for the generations buried beneath its soil?
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| David Butler, Lynda Meier and Deborah Murphy |
The Black News Channel went live on February 10th and will soon be widely available. Check your cable listings now. If you don't see it, call your cable provider and request it immediately.
I cannot give you any specific times when they will be airing Sacred Ground, but the network has acquired the rights for an entire year. I suspect there will be multiple screenings. Hopefully, exposure on the Black News Channel will increase awareness to conditions in the cemetery.
Check out the trailer:
Be sure to check out my memoir The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God, published by TouchPoint Press. It is my true story of first faith and first love and how the two became almost fatally intertwined. (And keep an eye out for my upcoming paranormal thriller Chapel Street.)
Here are some sample chapters of The Promise:
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