Bridging the Divide: Tom Bradley and the Politics of Race

FAIN: TD-50324-11

OUR L.A. (Los Angeles, CA 90027-4655)
Lyn Goldfarb (Project Director: August 2010 to April 2014)

Development of a 90-minute film documentary about former Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley.

Thirty-five years before Barack Obama's election as President, the question of race and the possibility of bridging racial barriers were put to the test in a remarkable, yet overlooked story in American politics: Tom Bradley's 1973 election as mayor of Los Angeles, the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city with an overwhelmingly white population. BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: TOM BRADLEY AND THE POLITICS OF RACE is the first documentary to tell the story of how his coalition of African Americans, Latinos, Jews and white liberals united a divided city, brought inclusion and access, and paved the way for minority political empowerment. It is the story of the challenges of inclusion that face our cities, and the complexities of coalitions in a changing America. BRIDGING THE DIVIDE is a HD 90-minute historical feature intended for a national public television audience. The documentary is being produced by Academy Award-nominee Lyn Goldfarb and Emmy Award winner Alison Sotomayor.