On July 15, we hosted a film screening of “Promises of the Revolution” at GBH Studios in Boston. This director’s commentary has been compiled and edited from two panel conversations held that day. Trajan Warren, who moderated the panel discussions, is a reporter with GBH’s Equity & Justice Unit. Wes DeShano is the director of “Here to Stay” and “Making Headlines,” the third and fourth films in our series.
Trajan Warren (TW): What inspired these films?
WD: I’ve always loved that quote “the past is prologue.” The past connects to the present, and therefore the future. In the case of the Teens in Print group, I just was so curious to see how younger people were responding to this big 250th year.
And of course, the takeaway there is: print isn’t dead. It’s very much alive. These young people have a lot to say. So it was a privilege to document that.
For Queer History Boston, it was very cool to see an organization that is intentionally saying, “we want to make an archive where people that identify in these ways see themselves in the archive.” That was also a real privilege.
TW: Why was it important to tell these stories about the American Revolution?
WD: One of the anecdotes that sticks out in my mind for the Queer History Boston project is when the QHB archivist, Mik Hamilton, was talking with me. They said, “archives are sites of power.” And I said, tell me more about that.
I learned that essentially a lot of the materials in the archives that they have right down on Boylston Street, they were at risk of just being thrown out. All these photographs, newspapers, printed documents that chronicle LGBTQ+ history in the Boston area, they were just going to end up in a landfill. And someone just had the wherewithal to save them.
Trajan Warren (TW): How do these stories focusing on Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, women’s histories, how do they change our understanding of the American Revolution?
Wes DeShano (WD): Queer History Boston is getting ready to roll out its podcast series. You can listen to the teaser online. When I was filming with Joan Ilacqua and the historian, JL Bell, they were talking about how Deborah Sampson is this great example of someone that consciously took control of their life story. In addition to publishing a memoir, Deborah Sampson would also don their military uniform, go on stage, and go through different military exercises. And there are no visuals of it. But I was struck by how Deborah Sampson really made this intentional effort to tell their life story the way that they wanted to.
That’s meant to parallel what Theo says about encountering a crossroads. They didn’t want to have published work out in the world, with their name on it, that had transphobic initialism [be sure to watch the film, embedded above, for the complete explanation]. So it is meant to be a comparison there between those two things. And it was a really powerful moment for me, listening to Theo during our interview.
TW: What were some ideas or scenes you couldn’t include in the final edit?
WD: For the “Making Headlines” film, it was so interesting to talk with John Garcia at the American Antiquarian Society. One point he made that was pertinent to the video is that there is a lineage of young people producing and printing. It actually goes back to the mid- to late- 19th century.
He explained how families could buy portable printing presses. And younger people even had associations that they would get together with. So, he traced the history back to earlier than you might expect it to be. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have enough time to fit it in.
That said, I created a behind-the-scenes piece with John, which you can watch to get more of the historical context of print culture in the revolutionary era.
TW: What do you hope the audience takes away from each of your films?
WD: The thing that stuck with me was that young people have something to say. They have these amazing insights and things to share. They went against the grain. They’re critiquing the Declaration of Independence, this foundational document. You can actually pick up a copy of the zine that Vicky and her colleagues created. In the era of “AI slop,” their publication is the direct opposite of that. It’s an actual thing you can hold in your hands. There’s no fake there.
Equally, at Queer History Boston, you can make an appointment to go in the archives. Which is not usually how archives work. You can actually go look through the stacks and you can you can look through all these issues of Gay Community News, for example. You can you can trace this history, which is a really powerful thing.
TW: The series is titled “Promises of the Revolution.” Which promise, would you say, remains the most urgent for the U.S. to fulfill?
WD: For “Making Headlines,” I was thinking a lot about the democratization of public discourse. Essentially this idea that the freedom of the press, these youth voices, are so important to have in the conversation. And it’s important to look at what our high school students and our early college students are thinking about when it comes to these major ideals.
To bridge that to “Here to Stay,” it’s, you know, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. I feel like with Theo’s comments, you really see how current events and history are literally affecting their livelihood in this very pronounced way.
