Charlotte Observer: “When the final credits faded, and a once-darkened theater inside a near-capacity Independent Picture House in NoDa slowly regained light, Jimmie Lee Kirkpatrick and De Kirkpatrick were adorned with applause and overwhelming praise.
A feature documentary entitled “A Binding Truth” explored the emotional journey of men at opposite ends of the racial spectrum immersed in a yearslong search for ancestral truths that connected them and gnawed at their spirits gripped the audience.
The Kirkpatricks — Jimmie Lee, a Black man; De, white — grew up in Charlotte, sharing a last name and graduating from Myers Park High School together a half-century ago. De was from a blue-collar family in a middle-class neighborhood in Dilworth; Jimmie Lee lived in the Black neighborhood of Grier Town, now known as Grier Heights.
While the film, which was shown last week in Charlotte during private screenings, was inspired by a series of articles by former Charlotte Observer reporters Gary Schwab and David Scott about the Kirkpatrick’s ties through slavery, the tale ultimately is an examination of America’s struggles to reconcile a history shaped by racism and how people can move forward despite of it.”