Daily Egyptian Spring 05
From Kenya to Cairo
Zack Quaintance
Daily Egyptian
A free screening for "Cairo: A City Caught between the Tides" will be shown at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center.
Today Cairo, Ill., has a single gas station, a lone grocery store, no fast-food restaurants and a reputation as a sleepy ghost town, but it was not always like that.
In the 1920s, Cairo, which sits at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers 48 miles south of SIUC, had a population of more than 27,000 and one of the highest per capita incomes in the United States. The city was once considered to be the gateway to the South, and it vied for economic capital of the Midwest with Chicago and St. Louis, but racial strife took its toll. Cairo was home to the last major civil rights movement in America, with the final lawsuit being resolved in the 1980s.
John Njagi, a graduate student from Nairobi, Kenya, studying mass communication and media arts, recently completed a 30-minute video documentary intended to tell the story of the town's rise and fall from prominence, which will be shown at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center. "A lot of people told me I shouldn't venture into that story," Njagi said. "They told me there's nothing there, it is very dangerous."
"Cairo: A City Caught between the Tides" tells the story of Cairo from the Civil War to modern times through the eyes of the people who have lived there. "I asked them, 'Why are you still in Cairo?'" Njagi said. "Everybody complains about Cairo and they said 'well, it's home.'" Large portions of the documentary are stories told from past and present residents of the city. Njagi edited footage shot during the heat of the civil rights movement between modern-day interviews.
"There's no segregation in Cairo," said a city official during the '60s. The clip is followed by a woman who grew up in Cairo telling a story of being in sixth grade and attempting to see a movie in the white theater. Her class was pelted with soda, candy and popcorn, the woman said.
When Njagi began the project, he said he was unfamiliar with racial tension. His home country of Kenya is predominantly black, but Njagi said there are white people there and that discrimination is not an issue.
"It's diverse, but it's a lot different," Njagi said. "It's reversed in Kenya. We're all Kenyans. Even though we were colonized by the British, there's no animosity there. It's in the past."
Jan Thompson, associate professor in radio-television, was the chairwoman of his thesis. Thompson has seen the film 20 times. "I think he did a wonderful job telling the story of a town that has a very compelling history," Thompson said.
Thompson is the chairwoman of three other theses this semester and said Njagi tackling such a local issue was unique because of his status as an international student.
Njagi would love to return to his native Kenya one day and make a film that showcases more than just the wildlife that shows up every time the media mentions Kenya, he said.
As a native Kenyan, he said he could capture the story of the country better than an outsider. While visiting his grandmother, Njagi said he realized recording the stories of the generally illiterate elderly should be his first priority.
"When we visit, she has no radio, no TV," Njagi said. "When we go to visit, she tells us stories about before the British came. She remembers everything. Those are the stories that need to be told. They're dying off, and it's really sad." The documentary was screened for the National Association of Black Journalists, and Beverly Love, the group's co-adviser, said she thinks it is important that students watch it.
"I think it's part of the history of this area, and everybody should know about it," Love said. "I don't think a lot of people know about what happened."
Last update: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 1:42:30 PM
Copyright 2009 Daily Egyptian Spring 05