Bush Mama

Bush Mama (1979) was written, produced, edited, and directed by Haile Gerima. An actor know as Barbarao (Barbara O. Jones) plays Dorothy. Dorothy's husband is in prison, and we're told he's innocent. Dorothy has a teen-age daughter, and Dorothy is pregnant.

Dorothy is frequently visited by her welfare caseworker, who, although African-American, represents the power of the establishment. She's not all alone--she has friends who care about her. One of them tells her, "We'll all take care of you and the baby." Dorothy gives the realistic answer, "How can you take care of me? You don't have anything yourself."

The question for Dorothy is whether to have the baby or terminate the pregnancy. The caseworker wants her to terminate the pregnancy. Dorothy is ambivalent. Telling more of the plot in this review would be inappropriate.

This is a powerful indictment of the economic, social, and psychological situation in Watts in 1979. I wish I could say, "That was then. This is now." However, we all know it's not true.

We saw this movie at the excellent Dryden Theatre in the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY. It will work well on a small screen.

An interesting piece of documentary history into the work of Haile Gerima. The film is very rough but has its moments. The actors were believable but the story line seemed forced and a tad didactic. This should be judged as a piece of history and not a artistic effort.