Award-winning documentary filmmaker Yoruba Richen joins Omelas to discuss her newest film, FREE JOAN LITTLE, and the extraordinary story behind one of the most significant criminal trials of the 1970s.

Joan Little was a young Black woman incarcerated in North Carolina who was charged with murder after killing a white jailer whom she said sexually assaulted her. Her case became a national cause, bringing together civil-rights activists, feminists and prison-reform advocates—including figures such as Rosa Parks and Angela Davis.

In this conversation, Yoruba and I discuss why Joan Little’s story has largely disappeared from popular memory, why Rosa Parks became involved in her case, the ethics of telling the story of someone who has chosen to remain private, and what FREE JOAN LITTLE can teach us about race, gender, incarceration and self-defense.

We also explore Yoruba’s broader work on The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks and American Coup: Wilmington 1898, the relationship between journalism and activism, who gets to shape historical memory, and whether documentary filmmaking can actually create social change.

Yoruba Richen is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and the founding director of the Documentary Program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.

Watch FREE JOAN LITTLE and follow Yoruba Richen to learn more about the film.

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