Our next guest speaker spotlight is on Frederick Murphy. Since Frederick Murphy was young, he always enjoyed talking to his elders and hearing stories of family history. Frederick is a Licensed Professional Counselor by trade who has also attained a Master’s degree in Transformative Leadership, and is a documentary filmmaker. Through tactful questioning, empathy, and reflection he is able to obtain information which he uses to produce a true narrative of African American/ American history. In 2016, he founded History Before Us, a project centered on capturing, preserving and advocating influential history. History Before Us, LLC (historybeforeus.com) has “played a role in the collection and preservation of history while being committed to advocating how history influences the future” as a service to mankind.
His first film The American South as We Know has won several awards. It explores the lives of survivors of Jim Crow, the courageous individuals who didn’t make the headlines. His second documentary is The other side of the coin: Race, Generations & Reconciliation. This film is a collection of experiences and thoughts addressing the complexities of race in America. The participants featured in the film represent a span of different generations, which presents its own unique challenges. His documentary, “Duality: A Collection of Afro-Indigenous Perspectives,” was shown at last year’s MHA conference in Hillsborough, NC, and is a collection of personal reflections of people of African and Indigenous ancestry. His most recent film, “The Indelible Appalachians,” will be shown at this year’s MHA conference in Johnson City, TN. It is a documentary that sheds light on the historic and present contributions of African Americans in Appalachia. Frederick, along with Adam Dickson and Crystal Good will be on a panel discussing the documentary after the showing of the documentary on Friday, June 20th at the Langston Center in downtown Johnson City. There will be a more detailed schedule closer to the conference.
To register for the MHA 29th Union/conference for members go here: https://melungeon.org/product/mha-2025-conference-members/ and for nonmembers go here: https://melungeon.org/product/mha-2025-conference/
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