Daughters of the Dust with introduction by Natalie Graham

KMA presents Daughters of the Dust with introduction by Natalie Graham

Where: Central Cinema, 1205 N Central St, Knoxville, TN 37917

When: Wednesday April 1, 2026

Time: 6:00 pm

Cost: Free for KMA & Knoxville Writers Guild Members, Non-Members: $5

Natalie Graham, Ph.D, M.F.A., is a poet, workshop facilitator, and scholar. She served as Orange County’s Poet Laureate, 2021-2023. She is a professor and interim head of Africana Studies at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She will be performing two pieces inspired by artwork in A Two-Way Mirror: Double Consciousness in Contemporary Glass by Black Artists at the KMA. Natalie will also perform these pieces at the KMA on April 2 as part of the Knoxville Writers Guild event Natalie Graham, Ph.D, M.F.A., is a poet, workshop facilitator, and scholar. She served as Orange County’s Poet Laureate, 2021-2023. She is a professor and interim head of Africana Studies at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She will be performing two pieces inspired by artwork in A Two-Way Mirror: Double Consciousness in Contemporary Glass by Black Artists at the KMA. Natalie will also perform these pieces at the KMA on April 2 as part of the Knoxville Writers Guild workshop“Making Concrete Float: Metaphor and Photography” — add link when available

“Daughters of the Dust” is a 1991 film directed by Julie Dash that explores the lives of three generations of Gullah women from the Peazant family as they prepare to migrate from their island home in South Carolina to the mainland in 1902. Daughters of the Dust screened at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize and won the Excellence in Cinematography Award. It was the first feature film made by an African-American woman to be distributed theatrically in the United States.

This screening is free for members of the KMA and Knoxville Writers Guild, and $5 for non-members.