Like many utopian societies, Soul City was a dream that was doomed to fail. It was the brainchild of civil rights leader Floyd McKissick who wanted to build a haven of racial equality for nearly 20,000 people. Construction for the project began in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the 1970s, but constant bureaucratic battles led to its demise.
A new documentary demonstrates that the process of planning Soul City changed many people’s lives. “Soul City” screens at the North Carolina Museum of History’s Longleaf Film Festivalon Saturday, May 13. Host Frank Stasio previews the short with two of its directors: Gini Richards and Monica Berra.