Scenes from the feature film
.png "Deborah and Duane Jackson use business and city planning tools to shape Boston and stake higher claims for their community.")
.png "Diane Patrick, a long serving partner of a majority law firm, and for some, the 'forever' First Lady of Massachusetts, gives extra support to babies at The Epiphany School, where she serves on the board")
GROUNDED emerges as a stereotype-breaking examination of top Black talent, its genesis and diversity, and how it thrives. Six Boston couples lead in philanthropy, law, medicine, real estate, religion, higher education, business, and government. Bennie and Flash, Jacquie and Wayne, Deborah and Duane, Carol and Bernie, Gloria and Ray, and Diane and Deval -- all are grounded in marriage and in the stratified New England city they call home.
.png "Pastor Gloria White Hammond’s office mementoes")
.png "Diane and Deval Patrick’s wedding portrait")
BEYOND THE SURFACE
Pastor Ray Hammond, a trained surgeon, also identifies as a peacemaker, applying humanitarian techniques, regardless of how old or deep the conflicts. Gloria White Hammond says the couple pursues a "ministry of healing."
These power pairs embody daring and excellence. Honest accounts engage and challenge observers to review perspectives, personal choices, and possible stereotypes.
.png "Jacqui and Wayne Budd at home with family photos")
.png "Flash & Bennie Wiley and Bernie & Carol Fulp in rapt attention at an event sponsored by The Partnership organization.")
.png "A Dress for Success Boston associate and a client create an interview look.")
.png "Dress for Success Boston, an entrance for building a new work life")
TOUCHING PEOPLE
"We still have a lot of young people in our lives," says Diane Patrick, the labor negotiator of 35 years, "We just don’t let them go." Governor Deval Patrick adds, "We have a broad definition of family…for example, students who come from far a distance. They adopt our home and we adopt them."
Cool and accomplished, they have made unmistakable breakthroughs. Distinct from "cousins" in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, or L.A., places with proportionally larger minority populations, Massachusetts stars shine, without critical demographic numbers.
.png "Massachusetts State House")
.png "Governor Deval and Diane Patrick")
.png "Co-pastors Ray Hammond and Gloria White Hammond")
.png "Street view, Roxbury Community College, Islamic Society of Boston dome")
IN MY LIFETIME
Carol Fulp, a business relations expert, urges corporate professionals to seek out work environments which demonstrate they value individual differences like ethnicity and culture. Investing in a somewhat different approach, Bernie Fulp believes business "ownership among people of color can occur, that it must occur."
Centered at the axis of success and pushback, their stories prove that, even within marriage, Black power is not monolithic.
.png "Architect/Developer Duane Jackson in his work neighborhood")
.png "Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial")
.png "Boston’s Epiphany School stairway")
.png "Boston Common, the United States’ oldest city park")
After long careers battling racial inequity in different ways, they continue striving for their families, and for fellow Black Bostonians waiting on their "come up."
Behind the Scenes
.png "Wanda and Valerie Whitmore frame the shot in downtown Boston.")
.png "A light moment as Bernie Fulp reviews his personal museum collection")
.png "Director Wanda Whitmore updates Duane Jackson on crew movements.")
.png "A wire-tethered Deborah Jackson asks for relief from sound man, Paul Green.")
.png "Cast and Crew looks for good angles at Bethel A.M.E.")
.png "Lance Douglas makes details perfect for his camera’s lens.")
.png "Diane Patrick identifies school leaders for Wanda Whitmore and crew.")
.png "Deval Patrick readies for the interview session.")
.png "Jacqui Budd gives Wanda Whitmore and the crew the green light.")
.png "Wayne Budd asks last-minute questions of Valerie Whitmore and crew.")
.png "Flash Wiley encourages his wife, Bennie, to lead the way.")
.png "Valerie Whitmore directs the Wiley’s indoor stroll.")
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