The press room of The Richmond Planet newspaper, seen in 1899 (Photo courtesy Library of Congress)
Murals tend to stay in one place — static images waiting to be seen and appreciated. Not this one.
Scot Crooker, chief content officer at the Richmond-based Tilt Creative + Production marketing company, describes the moment that the project to honor Black-run newspaper The Richmond Planet with a mural began to grow beyond the outdoor wall of its Scott’s Addition studio this way: “Oh, this isn’t a mural anymore, is it? There’s a big story here.”
What started as a collaboration between Tilt and artist Hamilton Glass grew, over the course of a year, to become “Birth of a Planet,” a 30-minute film about the influential newspaper.
The documentary, which premiered in June at the Richmond International Film Festival, will air Feb. 28 on VPM. At its center is the Planet’s firebrand editor, John Mitchell Jr., who led the publication for 45 years, starting in 1884. The paper was 2 years old when Mitchell took over; he was just 21 years old. Under his guiding hand, the Planet was a daring counterbalance to established newspapers, which glossed over early Jim Crow racism and injustice that Mitchell knew well, having been born into slavery.
“Not being afraid to go where people say, ‘Don’t go,’ to uncover the truth of the story,” says director Sylvester Tucker, who is a senior producer at Tilt, “that, to me, at its heart, is what the whole documentary has been about.”
Mitchell became known as the “fighting editor,” arming himself with pistols as he published articles that shone a light on acts of brutality and the construction of Confederate monuments.
In one incident covered in the documentary, Mitchell defied death threats to visit the site of an 1886 lynching in Charlotte County. In another, Mitchell wrote a pair of articles about an 1896 Essex County lynching, correcting coverage by other papers indicating both Black and white community members saw the punishment as fitting. In doing so, the Planet gave a voice to those who’d long been denied one.
The makers of “Birth of a Planet” were intentional about representation, as well. “Let’s try and tell the story through as clean a lens as possible,” Crooker says. “Let the people who own the story, in effect, tell the story.” In addition to on-camera interviews with John Mitchell, great-great nephew of John Mitchell Jr., and descendants of Planet co-founder Albert V. Norrell, the documentary features narration from local rapper Daniel Jones.
As Tucker sees it, filmmaking is part of an unbroken oral tradition. “It’s just a way of us communicating information and passing on our story and our lineage to other folks,” he says. “I’m a history major, and I love the aspect of telling a story. … When we get a chance to tell people our stories, you feel like, ‘Oh man, I’m not by myself.’ ”
“Birth of a Planet” was that proof of concept for Tilt. It’s the first film of its kind the company has made. The longest clip Crooker had created to that point was four minutes. “It was what you would call an organic process,” he says, adding with a laugh, “learned a lot.”
“Birth of a Planet” also reinforces Mitchell’s legacy in Richmond, which includes service on the Richmond City Council and the founding of the Mechanics Savings Bank, in addition to his work as an editor. “You’ll go around this town,” Tucker notes, “and you’ll see street signs, you’ll see murals of John Mitchell Jr., but no one knows who John Mitchell Jr. is. He’s one of the most famous unknown citizens of Richmond.”
“Birth of a Planet” will air on VPM Feb. 28 at 9 p.m. For more information, visit birthofaplanet.com.
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