“What is the Orbit of Our Dreaming?”: Hale County This Morning , This Evening and Black Time Studies

Abstract

Abstract: This article delves into the profound connection between Black life in Alabama, the temporal qualities of Southern geographies, and emerging formulations of time from the interdisciplinary field of Black Time Studies. The paper positions RaMell Ross’ 2019 experimental documentary, Hale County This Morning, This Evening , within an emerging field that examines radical representations of time in experimental Black art, aesthetics, and everyday life. Black Time Studies underscores the critical role of time in the ordering of Black life and labor, acknowledges modes of resistance, and envisions forms of liberation within the unique temporal landscape of the South, inviting this discussion of abstraction, framing practices, waiting, and patience. Hale County This Morning, This Evening explores and enacts an intricate interplay between time, place, and Black aesthetics, offering a generative contribution to theories of time in the South. Situating the film within this particular interdisciplinary discourse enables us in turn to draw from the methods, traditions, and analytical tools of poetry, experimental prose, sound, and music—fundamental elements of Black Time Studies, to create an expanded reading of the film. It is through this lens that we will ponder the film’s central question: “What is the orbit of our dreaming?”