LGM Film Club, Part 211: Long Train Running

Awhile back here, I profiled Marlon Riggs’ Tongues Untied, the groundbreaking film about Black gay life that sent Jesse Helms through the roof. Last night, I watched Riggs’ UC-Berkeley thesis film, Long Train Running, on the Oakland blues scene of the late 40s and early 50s. For a thesis film, it’s quite good! I didn’t know anything about this scene, which was ultimately pretty small, with any artist achieving a modicum of success quickly signing with LA or Chicago labels. But it was still quite locally significant and a representation of the Black migration to the west coast in and after World War II. Really worth a half hour of your time.