David Barnhart named 2021 Distinguished Alumnus
07-01-2021
His work nurtures and nourishes. It transforms and redeems. It transcends the bounds of church and is having an impact on civil society. He has married theological resonance with civic duty, and faith with prophetic advocacy. These are just some of the reasons David Barnhart has been named McCormick’s 2021 Distinguished Alumnus.
An award-winning investigative documentary filmmaker, David Barnhart, M.Div. ’05, has committed his life’s work to using story and film as a resource for wider community engagement around justice issues. His documentaries, “Flint: The Poisoning of an American City,” “Trigger: The Ripple Effects of Gun Violence," “To Breathe Free,” and “Locked in a Box: Immigration Detention,” have become resources for justice movements around issues of clean water and environmental racism, gun violence, immigration, and refugees.
Since its premiere in Flint, Michigan, his documentary, “Flint: The Poisoning of an American City,” has received wide distribution across streaming platforms and all major cable outlets and has become an important resource for justice movements around environmental and systemic racism. It has had more than one million downloads on Amazon and been used by the Environmental Protection Agency as a training film for staff in various offices across the country.
For the past 23 years, Barnhart’s films have been part of the healing work of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance team of the Presbyterian Church (USA). “Disaster response work, at its best, is not an application of charity and a brief expression of support following a catastrophic event,” said Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus, director, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. “For traumatized survivors to heal, their stories must be able to be shared in a way that reconnects the ‘before’ with the ‘after.’ David’s work, like that of any good pastor or clinician, never re-traumatizes, but accompanies the survivor through the valley of the shadow and stands with them while the sharing of their narrative brings healing, justice, and renewal. To be able to do this through the medium of film, with such grace, kindness, and respect, is a unique and precious gift.”
In bringing together his passions for social justice ministry and filmmaking, Barnhart is sharing voices that were previously silenced, the stories of those who continue to be oppressed, and challenging the dominate narratives and the systems that support them. His films are keeping important stories alive and documented long after they have faded from front pages and newsfeeds yet linger in the memories – and all too often – the on-going experience of those who bear the image of God.
The 2021 Distinguished Alumnus, Barnhart will be honored at this year’s McCormick Day on October 14.
Learn more and register for McCormick Day here.
