- Tells the story of New Orleans's black aristocracy as seen through the eyes of an African American debutante and her matriarchal family. This poignant coming of age story opens a lens to the wider struggle of black New Orleans's to shape an upper class society during the rise of the Jim Crow south.—Anonymous
- MEMBER OF THE CLUB tells the rich history of the black and white social clubs of the American South. Described through interviews with members of one of New Orleans most respected black social clubs, The Original Illinois Club, and visually and aurally depicted through archival footage, photographs and period music, the complex history of these segregated social institutions comes alive. The white clubs were created to carry on the royal traditions and belief systems of the European Continent. Whereas, the black clubs, emerging out of the aftermath of the Civil War and Reconstruction, were an expression of newfound empowerment and pride in cultural vitality and racial identity that not even the severity of Jim Crow could restrain. The joyous public displays by the black clubs also became an opportunity for visible political dissent, just as white Mardi Gras parades often aired political grievances or racist attitudes through the caricature of elaborate storytelling costumes and floats.
MEMBER OF THE CLUB explores the meaning of belonging to these clubsfor blacks upward mobility is what has always mattered--higher education, attaining economic power, fostering civic virtues and cementing social status to rival the white establishment have always been key objectives, although simply making ones debut--elevation to an aristocratic status--is an end in itself. For whites, the goal has been to preserve established rank and to hark back to a day when whites were known to be superior. This is a fascinating, largely unknown past and present that gives greater meaning to Marisas personal journey by placing it in a social and historical context.
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