Alana Marie is a filmmaker from St. Louis. Her passion for storytelling developed after taking a tour of Kinloch, the historically Black city in St. Louis County with fewer than 300 residents left. In the film, Alana explores her roots in a community that was forced to pack up and leave. She sat down with KBIA’s Katie Quinn to discuss her film The Kinloch Doc.
Katie Quinn: Could you go into a little bit of detail about what did happen to the community and Kinloch?
Alana Marie: So growing up in St. Louis, the narrative around Kinloch has always been that the airport because Lambert International Airport is adjacent to the city of Kinloch. It is across the highway that this airport basically bought out or wiped out this Black community. But in a nutshell, the airport or at Lambert airport was making way for a runway expansion that was taking place in the 80s.
It was supposed to be a hub like they were making plans on you know, Lambert being this huge international airport. And in order for it to expand, you have to purchase property. So there were several communities that ended up being bought out by Lambert airport to make way for expansion. That never happened. They bought out over a third of the community.
And a lot of those families, my family included, found other parts of St. Louis that they had to live in. So 30-40 years later, the city has less than 300 residents living in the area. There aren't any revenue generating businesses within the city. Yeah, it essentially became a desolate community.
Katie Quinn: As a filmmaker, what did you learn from this experience?
Alana Marie: I didn't know how much of a good storyteller that I was. On a personal note, like I always loved writing, I started this space as a writer, as a blogger, I didn't know that I can merge my passion for service and justice and equity work, as well as you know, writing and blogging and content creation. I always thought it had to be a hobby. I didn't know that. I could create content or be a storyteller be a documentary filmmaker.
Katie Quinn: What do you hope people take away from the film?
Alana Marie: My father is one of the subjects in the film. And he has a line in there that from the majority of the screenings that I've heard that people remember. And he says, "There's a Kinloch everywhere.” And that is one of the main points I want to drive home. Yes, Kinloch is special. It is unique in its own right. But what happened to the community as far as the erasure of historic Black communities that's not unique.
Their historic Black communities are historic communities of color all across this country. And so how can they help to preserve historic communities in our own backyard on a personal level? Because the story of Kinloch is also a story about family and lineage, to have conversations with the elders in their family.
I tried to tell people that it doesn't necessarily have to be you know, going out and filing for legislation. If that is not your skill set, hone in on your skill set. It always starts in the house. So connecting with family, learning your family story and documenting your family's story written as well as in photo is starting from there.
To find out more about the film or to request a screening visit thekinlochdoc.com.
