Carroll Parrott Blue (August 23, 1943 – December 11, 2019) was an American filmmaker,

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and author. Based in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, she was part of the

L.A. Rebellion The L.A. Rebellion film movement, sometimes referred to as the "Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers", or the UCLA Rebellion, refers to the new generation of young African and African-American filmmakers who studied at the UCLA Film School ...

film movement. She was noted for her

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

and

interactive multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

works, particularly for her project ''The Dawn at My Back: Memoir of a Black Texas Upbringing''. Blue was a research professor at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

. She worked to preserve and celebrate the history of the African American community in Houston.

Early life and education

Carroll Parrott Blue was born on August 23, 1943, in Houston, Texas. She grew up during the

segregation era In the United States, racial segregation is the systematic separation of facilities and services such as housing, healthcare, education, employment, and transportation on racial grounds. The term is mainly used in reference to the legally or so ...

in Houston's Third Ward. During her childhood, Blue's mother Mollie Carroll Parrott worked with and for organizations such as Negro YWCA, Garden Club, Texas Negro Democratic party, and many church groups that fought for civil rights during the

Civil Rights Era The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...

. Blue graduated from Jack Yates Colored High School. Blue began attending

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...

in 1960 and earned her

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

in english literature in 1964. She earned her MFA in film production at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

in 1980.

Career

Blue's documentary works have focused on women of the

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were ...

and

visual arts The visual arts are Art#Forms, genres, media, and styles, art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as ...

themes. Blue's multimedia participatory projects developed out of her documentary work. Her autobiographical ''The Dawn at my Back'', a work that combines film, text and

hypermedia Hypermedia, an extension of the term hypertext, is a nonlinear medium of information that includes graphics, audio, video, plain text and hyperlinks. This designation contrasts with the broader term ''multimedia'', which may include non-interact ...

form, gave rise to the non-profit organization The Dawn Project and later to ''Third Ward Storymapping''. Her work is heavily concentrated in documentaries,

African American cinema African American cinema is loosely classified as films made by, for, or about Black Americans. They are an example of Black film. Historically, African American films have been made with African-American casts and marketed to African-American ...

and digital community-based media. Blue was also involved in television. Her television programs include ''Varnette's World: A Study of a Young Artist'' (1979), ''Smithsonian World'' ("Nigerian Arts-Kindred Spirits," 1996) and ''NOVA'' ("Mystery of the Senses: Vision," 2007). Blue was part of the

filmmaking movement (1967-1989), alongside

Julie Dash Julie Ethel Dash (born October 22, 1952) is an American film director, writer and producer. Dash received her MFA in 1985 at the UCLA Film School and is one of the graduates and filmmakers known as the L.A. Rebellion. The L.A. Rebellion refers ...

, Charles Burnett,

Jamaa Fanaka Jamaa Fanaka (born Walter Gordon; September 6, 1942 – April 1, 2012) was an American filmmaker. He is best known for his 1979 film, ''Penitentiary'', and was one of the leading directors of the L.A. Rebellion film movement. Early life and ...

Haile Gerima Haile Gerima (born March 4, 1946) is an Ethiopian filmmaker who lives and works in the United States. He is a leading member of the L.A. Rebellion film movement, also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers. His films have receiv ...

Billy Woodberry Billy Woodberry is one of the leading directors of the L.A. Rebellion (also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers). He is best known for directing the 1984 feature film, '' Bless Their Little Hearts'' (1984), which was honored at ...

, Barbara McCullough, Ben Caldwell,

Alile Sharon Larkin Alile Sharon Larkin (born May 6, 1953) is an American film producer, writer and director. She is associated with the L.A. Rebellion (also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers), which is said to have "collectively imagined and cre ...

, and

Larry Clark Lawrence Donald Clark (born January 19, 1943) is an American film director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for his controversial teen film ''Kids'' (1995) and his photography book ''Tulsa'' (1971). His work focuses prim ...

.Bobo, Jacqueline. 2013. ''Black Women Film And Video Artists''. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p.28 The L.A. Rebellion filmmakers worked against Hollywood's negative perspective of black people in starring realistic, anti-stereotype characters in their works. Filming African Americans in their communities was an important aspect of this work, as

Zeinabu Irene Davis Zeinabu irene Davis (born April 13, 1961) is an American filmmaker and professor in the Department of Communication

stated in 2014 the "goal was and is to represent, reflect on, and enrich the day-to-day lives of people in our own communities." Blue became a professor emerita of

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) syste ...

in 1980. Blue's documentary ''Conversations with Roy DeCarava'' (1983) is a highly respected piece in the

Los Angeles School The Los Angeles School of Urbanism is an academic movement which emerged during the mid-1980s, loosely based at UCLA and the University of Southern California, which centers urban analysis on Los Angeles, California. The Los Angeles School redirects ...

. This documentary looks at DeCarava's work and life in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

. She also created a documentary about Ghanaian sculptor

El Anatsui El Anatsui ( h-nah-ch-wee born 1944) is a Ghanaian sculptor active for much of his career in Nigeria. He has drawn particular international attention for his " bottle-top installations". These installations consist of thousands of aluminum piec ...

which helped to launch his career. She served as a producer fellow for the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

in 1984 and 1985. ''The Dawn at My Back: A Memoir of a Black Texas Upbringing,'' (2003) is a book, DVD-ROM and website.Blue, Carroll Parrott. 2003. ''The Dawn At My Back''. Austin: University of Texas Press. It explores Blue's family history and the history of Houston's black community. It won the Sundance Online Film Festival Jury Award in 2004 and was also named one of the 30 best American Association of University Press publications by the American Library Association in that year. From 2006 through 2015, Blue was a research professor at the

. While at the University of Houston, she applied for a National Endowment for the Arts "Our Town" grant application to encourage people in the art and architecture field to improve the community. She was awarded $100,000 for this pursuit. In 2011 and 2012 she was appointed a visiting scholar at the

Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urba ...

. Blue was passionate about transforming

and founded SEHTA, the Southeast Houston Transformation Alliance. In Blue's pursuit of making change in the Southeast Houston area, her work consisted of storytelling, interactive multimedia, public art and design. SEHTA tells the community's story by capturing the voices from the community while merging the objective facts of this community to reach her audience of academics, developers and donors. She was part of a team that created artwork at the

Palm Center Transit Center Palm Center Transit Center is a light rail station in Houston, Texas on the METRORail system. It is the terminus of the Purple Line and is located on Griggs Road near Beekman Road in the Palm Center neighborhood. Palm Center Transit Cente ...

and worked towards the renovation of Houston's Emancipation Park. Shortly after

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest ...

in 2017, Blue collaborated in the creation of a storymap for the Third Ward with The Dawn Project, the ''Houston Chronicle'', and several other organizations. The project collected stories from Houston residents who were impacted by storm.

Awards

Blue's work ''The Dawn at My Back: Memoir of a Texas Upbringing'' won the 2004

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada * Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood *Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States *Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated place ...

Online Film Festival Viewers Award in the New Forms Gallery category. She was appointed a

World Academy of Art and Science The World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), founded in 1960, is an international non-governmental scientific organization and global network of more than 800 scientists, artists, and scholars in more than 90 countries. It serves as a forum for s ...

Fellow in 2007.

Death

Blue died on December 11, 2019, as reported in the ''

Houston Defender The ''Houston Defender'' is an African-American newspaper published weekly in Houston, Texas. The newspaper was established October 11, 1930 by C. F. Richardson Sr., who was also publisher of the ''Houston Informer''. The Defender served as a co ...

''. Her cause of death is unknown.

Selected filmography

Carroll Parrott Blue has produced, directed and written films including those listed in the table below:

Selected publications

In Blue's work as an author she blends text with graphics and stills. Blue's poem titled ''Sometimes a poem is Twenty Years of Memory: 1967-1987'', showcases a few of her experiences early and throughout her career within those years. It explores how the interaction of her race, gender and community interact with her work in the film industry. It details good and bad experiences throughout.

References

External links

Mapping the Third Ward in Houston Story Work in the Face of Redevelopment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue, Carroll Parrott African-American contemporary artists American contemporary artists African-American film directors American multimedia artists 1943 births 2019 deaths African-American women artists American women film directors L.A. Rebellion UCLA Film School alumni Artists from Texas Mass media people from Houston 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists Film directors from Texas 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American artists 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American artists