Midnight Oil offers a nuanced look at the ongoing debate about the need to address the growing climate crisis and that of retaining jobs in energy sectors that often contribute to environmental injustice, presenting Motley’s firsthand experience of living at the perilous nexus of those two worlds. A refinery manager with 15 years of experience, Motley finds his viewpoint of the oil industry and the work he does forever changed after the tragedy.
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No lives were lost, but in the aftermath of the explosion every worker finds their career upended as the owners announce plans to close the refinery — then the oldest continually run refinery in the world. As Motley’s camera captures his colleagues discussing their next steps — some set their sights on retirement, others make plans to uproot their lives for work at refineries in other states, others hope to stay and fight to keep PES open — the filmmaker also presents his own struggles with his path forward. The pollution that resulted from the explosion brought fresh attention to the environmental damage and long-term adverse health effects to which many residents of the community surrounding the refinery, many Black and Brown, had long been trying to call attention.
Midnight Oil can be viewed on BPM’s YouTube Channel starting on July 17.
Created and presented by Black Public Media, AfroPoP Digital Shorts showcases short films exploring life, art and culture from across the African Diaspora in both documentary and narrative form. Other films now available to stream are: Inner Wound Real, an animated film by carrie hawks (they/them) that explores the true stories of three BIPOC individuals with a history of self-injury and the paths they take to find new coping methods, and The Black Disquisition, Quincy G. Ledbetter’s film about the traumatic event in a boy’s life that fractures his self-image and the difficult conversation his parents must have with him about race in America.
New episodes of the AfroPoP Digital Shorts series release on the third Monday of the month. Future films in the series include:
- Descended From The Promised Land: The Legacy of Black Wall Street by Nailah Jefferson and Laurens Jefferson, which follows the descendants of business owners in the once thriving Black Wall Street neighborhood and asks, “If the Tulsa Race Massacre had never happened, would Black Wall Street have influenced the entire nation?”
- Lakeside’s Treasure by Rasheed Peters, afilm portrait of Betty McDaniel, owner of Lakeside Treasures, an antique and vintage shop in Rogers Park, Chicago. Once just a post-retirement dream, the shop has been open for over 10 years and has become a staple in McDaniel’s life and for many living in Rogers Park and the greater Chicago area. This portrait personifies perseverance, dedication and, most importantly, heart.
- Portal by Rodney Evans, ashort non-fiction film about the lack of touch experienced by single people during the COVID-19 pandemic and how two queer, BIPOC friends sustain each other through communication and connection.
For more on AfroPoP Digital Shorts and BPM, visit blackpublicmedia.org or follow the organization on YouTube at @BlackPublicMedia.
