Synopsis:

Somerville tells the riveting, real-life “David and Goliath” story of a Virginia farm family’s fight to save their land, legacy, and way of life against impossible odds. It’s a story about America — about home, courage, and what it means to protect what you love.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Real estate broker and Emmy-winning filmmaker,James Bell, is proud to announce the launch of "Somerville," a new documentary project dedicated to raising awareness and support for the preservation of the Grove family’s historic White Ridge Farm, a cornerstone of the Somerville, Virginia, community for over a century.

The film centers on the experiences of Donna Grove, whose family has called White Ridge Farm home for more than 100 years. “I live here on White Ridge Farm in the beautiful little village of Somerville, Virginia. Before me, my dad lived on this farm. He was born here in this house, and my granddaddy bought this acreage. So we've been here over 100 years, and we hope to be here for another 100 years,” Grove shares. White Ridge Farm is a nationally recognized Black Angus bull and cow farm.

Recently, the farm has faced a critical threat: a proposed Dominion Energy route that would cut directly through the property. “You talk about 10 or 15 towers, and the impact that has—it completely destroys the farm,” Caitlin explains. “It was always my dream to come back and work on the farm, and I'm very lucky, because not everybody can say that they have fulfilled their dream.”

The documentary also delves into the Grove family’s personal challenges, including Bobby Grove’s battle with a serious cancer diagnosis in 2019 and Donna’s family’s perseverance in the face of adversity. “Most of the time, we just have to figure out how to keep moving forward. I mean, that's all anybody can do, is figure out how to keep moving forward. This is home. This is our home, and it's not just us; it's everybody in the county that's going to be impacted. Where are we going to go? You know, I don't know where you go that you avoid this.”

"Somerville" uses the power of film to tell the story of White Ridge Farm’s heritage, its economic and cultural importance, and the deeply personal connections that bind the Grove family—and their neighbors—to the land. By documenting these stories, Bell aims to foster a sense of shared responsibility and inspire collective action—through fundraising, advocacy, and partnerships—to protect the farm for future generations.

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About James Bell:
James Bell is an Emmy-winning filmmaker and respected local real estate broker with a passion for community heritage and preservation. His previous projects have focused on the intersection of historic preservation and community impact.

For more information, to schedule an interview, or to support the project, please visit www.TheAmericanTable.org or contact James Bell at JamesBell@TheAmericanTable.org

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So, what is this new documentary about?

Georgia Gilmore, a 36-year-old Black cook, midwife, and activist, heard of a mass meeting at Montgomery, Alabama’s Holt Street Baptist Church, to organize a bus boycott after Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white rider. She attended the meeting, introduced herself to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the president of the MIA, and joined the organization that night. It was Georgia Gilmore’s secret kitchen that fed the civil rights movement.

Gilmore sold her fried chicken sandwiches, mac’ n’ cheese, and other foods to the African-American men and women who met at the church and had vowed not to use buses until desegregated. Gilmore started a fundraising group called the Club from Nowhere (its name is a joke about where the money came from) to help pay for the alternative transportation system that rose during the 381-day bus boycott that ferried Black workers to their jobs and back. Gilmore's cooking helped pay for the insurance, gas, and vehicle repairs that kept the system going. She organized Black women to sell pound cakes and sweet potato pies, fried fish and stewed greens, pork chops, and rice at beauty salons; cab stands, and churches. Gilmore kept the movement funded and fed with food.

When she testified in court on King’s behalf, Gilmore lost her job at the National Lunch Company. King and other MIA leaders helped Gilmore set up her own restaurant in her home, which became a spot where Dr. King and other civil rights activists could eat and strategize. Robert Kennedy Jr. and Lyndon Johnson also ate there. Georgia Gilmore used food to feed justice.

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Feeding Freedom: Lunch Counters to Michelin Stars is the dynamic companion book to the documentary feature film of the same name; it explores the rich and profound work that Black chefs have done from the beginning of America to today, where they are winning awards for their spectacular and succulent cooking—cooking we will see in action, and recipes we will share. In our literary and cinematic journey, we connect the struggles of the past with the culinary triumphs of today to see how Black chefs have put their souls on the table of America, using their talents in the kitchen to feed justice, and in so doing, to help the country find its way to that more perfect union the Founders imagined.

We see how Georgia Gilmore used food to win justice and how Booker Wright, a Black waiter in Lusco’s Restaurant in Greenwood, Mississippi, died because of it. In Mississippi: A Self Portrait, a 1966 NBC television documentary about racism in the American South, Wright spoke frankly about the racism he endured from his customers at an all-white restaurant, as well as his aspirations for his three daughters, who he hoped would grow up free from the prejudice he had faced. His interview aired just once, but Wright lost his job at Lusco’s and was pistol-whipped by a white policeman. His own restaurant, Booker’s Place, was firebombed, and he was murdered by a customer at his restaurant just three months after he spoke on camera.

Feeding Freedom explores the challenges Black chefs have had to overcome as they made their way to the national table. Civil Rights author and activist James Baldwin grew strength and power using the “Welcome Table.” His life narrative was energized by food, wine, and trusted conversation around his kitchen table in Paris. From Brooklyn to Paris, the journey for Civil Rights continues.

At the heart of our epic journey is an extraordinary Black chef starring in American kitchen—and soon, in one in Paris. We meet Mashama Bailey, executive chef and partner at The Grey, located in a converted 1938 Art Deco bus station in Savannah, Georgia. She won the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef Southeast award in 2019. She served on the Edna Lewis Foundation board, which works to celebrate another renowned Black American chef, teacher, and author who helped refine the American view of Southern cooking. Mashama shows us her talents in the kitchen and treats us to some of her favorite recipes. Mashama learned to cook thanks to the women in her family, went to culinary school, and then lived and worked at Château du Feÿ in Burgundy, France, where she will return.

She will open her Paris restaurant –its name to be announced --in the city’s 7th Arrondissement space. The food will be French-focused but seasoned with the spirit of the American South. In bringing Black American cuisine to France, Bailey closes the circle begun by James Hemmings, who, as Thomas Jefferson’s slave, accompanied Jefferson on his posting to France in 1784. Hemmings trained in exalted French kitchens became a star and brought macaroni and cheese, French fries, crème brûlée, and ice cream to America. Now, Mashama Bailey will complete our story on an epic high note by bringing her foods of America to the diners of Paris. It will be a dining experience, très formidable, as they say in France or the American South, “We’ll be fixin’ to get seconds.”

Feeding Freedom: Lunch Counters to Michelin Stars takes the reader on a compelling journey through the world of Black American cuisine and into its very kitchens to taste how essential that cuisine has been to feeding freedom—and people – in the American story. And how the future of Black cuisine shines with a dazzle as it cooks on our national stove and beyond.

Become a paid subscriber today to support this project and to access all of our original film content!

Subscribe now

Share The American Table

So, what is this new documentary about?

Georgia Gilmore, a 36-year-old Black cook, midwife, and activist, heard of a mass meeting at Montgomery, Alabama’s Holt Street Baptist Church, to organize a bus boycott after Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white rider. She attended the meeting, introduced herself to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the president of the MIA, and joined the organization that night. It was Georgia Gilmore’s secret kitchen that fed the civil rights movement.

Gilmore sold her fried chicken sandwiches, mac’ n’ cheese, and other foods to the African-American men and women who met at the church and had vowed not to use buses until desegregated. Gilmore started a fundraising group called the Club from Nowhere (its name is a joke about where the money came from) to help pay for the alternative transportation system that rose during the 381-day bus boycott that ferried Black workers to their jobs and back. Gilmore's cooking helped pay for the insurance, gas, and vehicle repairs that kept the system going. She organized Black women to sell pound cakes and sweet potato pies, fried fish and stewed greens, pork chops, and rice at beauty salons; cab stands, and churches. Gilmore kept the movement funded and fed with food.

When she testified in court on King’s behalf, Gilmore lost her job at the National Lunch Company. King and other MIA leaders helped Gilmore set up her own restaurant in her home, which became a spot where Dr. King and other civil rights activists could eat and strategize. Robert Kennedy Jr. and Lyndon Johnson also ate there. Georgia Gilmore used food to feed justice.

Subscribe now

Feeding Freedom: Lunch Counters to Michelin Stars is the dynamic companion book to the documentary feature film of the same name; it explores the rich and profound work that Black chefs have done from the beginning of America to today, where they are winning awards for their spectacular and succulent cooking—cooking we will see in action, and recipes we will share. In our literary and cinematic journey, we connect the struggles of the past with the culinary triumphs of today to see how Black chefs have put their souls on the table of America, using their talents in the kitchen to feed justice, and in so doing, to help the country find its way to that more perfect union the Founders imagined.

We see how Georgia Gilmore used food to win justice and how Booker Wright, a Black waiter in Lusco’s Restaurant in Greenwood, Mississippi, died because of it. In Mississippi: A Self Portrait, a 1966 NBC television documentary about racism in the American South, Wright spoke frankly about the racism he endured from his customers at an all-white restaurant, as well as his aspirations for his three daughters, who he hoped would grow up free from the prejudice he had faced. His interview aired just once, but Wright lost his job at Lusco’s and was pistol-whipped by a white policeman. His own restaurant, Booker’s Place, was firebombed, and he was murdered by a customer at his restaurant just three months after he spoke on camera.

Feeding Freedom explores the challenges Black chefs have had to overcome as they made their way to the national table. Civil Rights author and activist James Baldwin grew strength and power using the “Welcome Table.” His life narrative was energized by food, wine, and trusted conversation around his kitchen table in Paris. From Brooklyn to Paris, the journey for Civil Rights continues.

At the heart of our epic journey is an extraordinary Black chef starring in American kitchen—and soon, in one in Paris. We meet Mashama Bailey, executive chef and partner at The Grey, located in a converted 1938 Art Deco bus station in Savannah, Georgia. She won the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef Southeast award in 2019. She served on the Edna Lewis Foundation board, which works to celebrate another renowned Black American chef, teacher, and author who helped refine the American view of Southern cooking. Mashama shows us her talents in the kitchen and treats us to some of her favorite recipes. Mashama learned to cook thanks to the women in her family, went to culinary school, and then lived and worked at Château du Feÿ in Burgundy, France, where she will return.

She will open her Paris restaurant –its name to be announced --in the city’s 7th Arrondissement space. The food will be French-focused but seasoned with the spirit of the American South. In bringing Black American cuisine to France, Bailey closes the circle begun by James Hemmings, who, as Thomas Jefferson’s slave, accompanied Jefferson on his posting to France in 1784. Hemmings trained in exalted French kitchens became a star and brought macaroni and cheese, French fries, crème brûlée, and ice cream to America. Now, Mashama Bailey will complete our story on an epic high note by bringing her foods of America to the diners of Paris. It will be a dining experience, très formidable, as they say in France or the American South, “We’ll be fixin’ to get seconds.”

Feeding Freedom: Lunch Counters to Michelin Stars takes the reader on a compelling journey through the world of Black American cuisine and into its very kitchens to taste how essential that cuisine has been to feeding freedom—and people – in the American story. And how the future of Black cuisine shines with a dazzle as it cooks on our national stove and beyond.

Share The American Table

The film was centered on drawing a comparison between the Statue of Liberty and the golden Waffle House sign as symbols of welcome and hope for the diverse, teaming, huddles masses of the American people.

With President Biden’s recent visit to a Waffle House after his debate with former president Donald Trump in Atlanta, it seemed like the perfect time to share this old concept from the archives with The American Table community!

Learn more about the project on our About Page

…

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Two MICHELIN Award-winning chefs from Washington, D.C. recount their bitter struggle to keep their restaurants alive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hosted by James Bell, Chefs Matteo Venini and Matt Baker describe the chaos of running businesses amid social and political unrest in the nation's capital.

Watch the Trailer:

Watch this Clip from Our Screening of A Moment In Time at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC:

Credits:

Director: James Bell

Producer: A. Troy Thomas

Production Company: Inertia Films

Director of Photography: Chris Marshall

Editor: Dylan Newman

View A Moment in Time on IMDB

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View James Bell Kitchen Table on IMDB

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View James Bell Kitchen Table on IMDB

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View James Bell Kitchen Table on IMDB

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