"Come Hell or High Water" screening at WWC

10 Feb 2015

The story of Derrick Evans and Turkey Creek, an African-American community along the Mississippi coast, is both painful and inspiring. A documentary telling that story will be screened Feb. 10 at Warren Wilson College with the film’s maker, Leah Mahan, present for a discussion after the screening.

The free public showing of “Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek” begins at 8 p.m. in Holden Auditorium, located in the Holden Visual Arts Center near the north entrance to campus. Because seating is limited, guests are advised to reserve seating by contacting Warren Wilson’s Heather Harvey at 828-771-3062 or hharvey@warren-wilson.edu.

“Come Hell or High Water” tracks the journey of Evans, a Boston teacher who moves back to his hometown of Turkey Creek, where developers bulldoze his ancestors’ graves in disregard of the community’s history and culture.

In a decade-long struggle for self-determination and environmental justice, Evans and his neighbors stand up to politicians and corporate interests, and face major hardships including Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil disaster. Yet as Bill Bigelow of Rethinking Schools has written, Turkey Creek “is also a saga of community, resilience, resistance and hope.” See the film’s trailer at http://bit.ly/1zRzI7R.

Warren Wilson College is showing the documentary in partnership with the organization Working Films, as part of an environmental justice film tour across North Carolina.