ABOUT THE PROJECT

LOGLINE
In the 1950s, the Rodgers family moved to Los Angeles, escaping the South but facing redlining. Today, the Great Migration’s descendants break redlining’s legacy, creating opportunities and reclaiming their power.

SYNOPSIS
I GET OUT traces the journey of the Rodgers family from Little Rock, Arkansas to Los Angeles, California highlighting the impact of the Great Migrations and redlining over three generations. Lazell Rodgers moved from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Los Angeles during the housing boom of the 1950s and 60s, following his cousin JW, a construction worker with dreams of becoming an actor. Despite their efforts in shaping suburban areas along the newly built highways, Lazell was restricted to South Central Los Angeles by redlining.

In the early 20th century, the Los Angeles Realty Board (LARB) implemented racially restrictive covenants, making Los Angeles one of the first cities to institutionalize racial segregation. Redlining’s impact is not unique to Los Angeles; it spreads nationwide. By the mid-20th century, California, home to half of the U.S. realtors, had helped make redlining a national norm. Studies show that redlining maps from the 1930s are more segregated today than 100 years ago.

Lazell’s son, John, later returned to his childhood home to raise his children but found the neighborhood deeply affected by the crack epidemic, the 1992 LA Riots, and the 1994 earthquake. Feeling boxed in, John’s daughter, Talia Rodgers sought freedom in New York but faced similar struggles in her redlined Brooklyn neighborhood.

In Talia’s return home, she sought a community focused on revitalization through art, technology, and literacy. With the help of local cultural leaders, I GET OUT defies the lines of redlining maps by revealing how technological advancements and organizations continue to empower communities shaped by historical oppression. Through meaningful archival, verite moments, poetry, apposite song lyrics, and beautiful movement sequences — we experience a different perspective of the people and places in South Central Los Angeles.

PROJECT TYPE Documentary Feature

DIRECTOR Talia Rodgers
PRODUCER Talia Rodgers, Christina Radburn

ID: 697