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Filmmaker Sidney Lee proud to be part of civil rights documentary

By Matt Nagle

Tacoma Weekly
mattnagle@tacomaweekly.com
Published on: September 04, 2008

In the exhibit “Tacoma’s Civil Rights Struggle: African Americans Leading the Way” now on view at Washington State History Museum (WSHM), numerous local African-American leaders of that era are featured through historical photographs, artifacts, newspaper articles and in clips from a companion film to the exhibit titled “Tacoma Civil Rights Project: Remembering Our Past, Reshaping Our Destiny.” Many of these leaders still live in Tacoma today, and on Sept. 7 the museum will welcome several of them for a showing of the film and a panel discussion from 3-5 p.m.

Produced by award-winning documentary filmmaker Sidney Lee, the 30-minute film includes interviews with nearly a dozen participants in Tacoma’s civil rights struggle during the 1950s and 60s including Harold Moss, Tacoma’s first African-American mayor and contributor to the exhibit. On Sept. 7 he will be joining Lee and others who had a hand in building the exhibit and making the film – Thomas Dixon, president emeritus of Tacoma Urban League; Barbara Johns, exhibit curator and museum consultant; Lyle Quasim, chief of staff for the Pierce County executive; and Dexter Gordon, professor of African-American Studies and Communication Studies at University of Puget Sound – to talk about their personal efforts toward equal rights in Tacoma as well as answer questions from the audience. The program is open to the public and free with museum admission.

Lee is an accomplished media professional with more than 30 years experience in all levels – directing, producing, editing, videography, scriptwriting, narration, photography and more. He graduated with honors from Mount Tahoma High School back in 1975, then entered the U.S. Marine Corps, where he worked in communications while stationed in Japan.

Returning to higher education, he went on to achieve a high level of academic distinction at Washington State University, where he graduated cum laude and earned the university’s Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in broadcasting. He earned a master’s degree in intercultural ministry in 1989 from Western Seminary in Portland, Ore. Over the years he worked in various communications-related fields and traveled extensively in Asia. Today, he is a self-employed video producer in Gig Harbor.

He said his travels added to his already intense interest in history and cross-cultural issues. What motivates him is the drive to make a difference in people’s lives and address the ills that exist in society.  

With the assistance of many others, Lee said he helped create “Remembering Our Past, Reshaping Our Destiny” as a historically accurate account from those who were there, leading the charge. The film is not a propaganda piece, he explained, but a first-hand lesson in a chapter in Tacoma history when certain brave individuals stepped up to lead entire communities to equality in the face of great danger.

“All the credit goes to them,” Lee said. “I see these people as real heroes right here in Tacoma who took a stand and laid their lives on the line to make Tacoma and Pierce County a better place. They are fantastic role models for us today. Their stories have to be told before they’re gone.”

Lee explained that his involvement in making the film started when he was hired to put together a program for Moss in 2004 upon his retirement from his last elected position on Pierce County Council.

The gregarious former mayor offered so much that Lee and others were inspired to get the “Remembering Our Past, Reshaping Our Destiny” project going full-steam and see it to completion.

Moss told Lee a story from his youth in Tacoma, in 1954 when Moss was coming out of Ft. Lewis as a soldier in the Korean War yet he was barred from roller skating with white people at a local rink. “I was blown away,” Lee said, remarking that he was born and raised in Tacoma but back then did not realize the level of racism that was enforced in his own hometown. He said Moss then went into “story after story about racist Jim Crow stuff happening right here in Tacoma,” and Lee knew he had to see the film to completion.

“I definitely have a personal stake in its message,” Lee commented. “Tacoma had problems and it still has problems. Racism still exists, and we have a long way to go.”

He said that all too often, people fail to appreciate cultural differences in society. “That angle blindsides us all too often. I believe we need to address issues of cross-cultural conflict and misunderstandings.”

For more information on WSHM’s “Tacoma’s Civil Rights Struggle: African Americans Leading the Way,” visit www.WashingtonHistory.org or call (888) 238-4373. WSHM is located at 1911 Pacific Ave.

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