"The African American relationship to water itself, I think, is such a layered, complex, complicated history," says Charles Todd, the director of CNN Films' documentary short, "Lessons from the Water: Diving with a Purpose." From the beginning, I wanted to show the totality of Black identity; what Black identity looks like with water, and what our relationship is to the water. Showing the totality of our experience from the beginning signals that this is not going to be a truncated story of just "fear in water," because our history is not one-note. Todd's goal with "Lessons from the Water" was to show the nuances of Black American identity. "Lessons from the Water" followed Black scuba divers as they performed fieldwork.

Source: CNN August 07, 2021 16:33 UTC