Episode 36 - Emma Francis Snyder - “Pa’lante” & “Que Bonita Bandera”

Jan 30

January 28, 2022

In the first full episode of 2022, I chat with the filmmaker and activist Emma Francis-Snyder about her Oscar-shortlisted short Takeover! We talk about her journey as a white person and the obligation to uncover and celebrate these hidden histories and all things Takeover! Including the history of the Young Lords, her many interactions with journalist and Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez. This week’s episode has not one but two songs! The first is the resistance anthem “Pa’lante” by Hurray for the Riff Raff. From 1948 to 1957, flying the Puerto Rican flag was illegal and so was singing patriotic tunes. The second song for this episode, “Que Bonita Bandera” by Pepe Y Flora was a direct response to that bigotry. Here is our conversation, which was recorded in January 2022.

Photo Credit: Brian Galderisi
[Image Description: Emma is pictured from the torso up against a black background. She has shoulder-length brownish, blonde hair and wears black glasses and red lipstick. She wears a black long-sleeved top.]

About Emma

Emma Francis-Snyder is a New York-based activist and documentary filmmaker. She is a 2020 Ford Foundation: Just Films grantee. In 2008, as an undergraduate, after seeing Spike Lee’s When The Levees Broke, Francis-Snyder dropped out of college and moved to Katrina, ravaged New Orleans to rebuild houses. In 2012 she returned to New York and joined the fight against the privatization of public education while attending CUNY Brooklyn College. It was there that she began filming - feeling the need to document what she was seeing and doing - bearing witness to moments and acts of courage that would otherwise be lost to history.

She says, “As a director, I want to share positive stories of resistance. I am constantly in awe of the strength, courage, and resilience of ordinary people who stand for change. In my work, I want to celebrate the collective successes and progress in our society and shed light on the real-life sacrifices that took place for basic human rights. Understanding why and how people risked their lives for others, in a world in which profit and power seem the arbiter of success, is ultimately what I want my work to be about; to communicate through cinema, to create films that can serve as agents of inspiration and change. I strive to shape the world we liv

About Takeover

Takeover explores the twelve historic hours on July 14, 1970, in which fifty members of the Young Lords Party stormed the dilapidated Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx, drove out their administrative staff, barricaded entrances and windows, and made their cries for decent healthcare known to the world. They raised the Puerto Rican flag atop the building, as well as a banner reading “The People’s Hospital” - a nom de guerre still used today. Through archival footage, seamless reenactments, and modern-day interviews, we follow the Young Lords’ resistance against institutions curated by wealth and white supremacy and their fight for the most basic of human rights: the right to accessible, quality healthcare.

Takeover endeavors to capture the imagination of a new generation of activists and suggest actions that ordinary citizens can take to change the conversation -- and the country. It is more vital than ever before that the bravery and behavior of the Young Lords be shown, celebrated, and built upon today.