Join us for a special screening of PBS’s newly released documentary, Declarations: Black Americans and the Revolutionary War, a VPM production, followed by a conversation with filmmakers, historians, artists, technology leaders, and policymakers.
The innovative film combines rigorous historical scholarship, original artwork, and artificial intelligence to illuminate overlooked stories from America’s founding. Because no visual records exist for many of the people featured in the documentary, the filmmakers used AI to thoughtfully animate original artwork grounded in historical research. The result offers a compelling example of how new technology can help filmmakers bring history to life without replacing the artists, historians, and storytellers responsible for shaping it.
Following the screening, panelists will discuss the stories explored in Declarations and the creative process behind the film. The conversation will examine how the filmmakers collaborated across history, art, technology, and documentary storytelling—and how AI helped them visualize people and moments that traditional archives could not fully capture.
The program will offer an engaging look at how filmmakers can use AI as a supportive creative tool while keeping historical evidence, artistic vision, and human judgment at the center of the work.
Stacey L. Holman
Film Director
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Stacey L. Holman is a Harlem-based filmmaker who has directed and produced several award-winning PBS. Her latest project for PBS, Declarations of Independence: Black Americans and the Building of a Nation will premiere in 2026 for the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
She is also co-directing another PBS documentary Harlem: Soul of a Nation with Stanley Nelson. Additionally, she is a producer for the podcast Queen of the Yard based on her scripted series with the same title. Previously, Stacey series produced and directed three documentaries hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.: GOSPEL, The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song, and Making Black America: Through the Grapevine. She also produced episodes on the duPont-award winning series Reconstruction: America After the Civil War and Buffalo Soldiers for The History Channel.
Other credits include Producer on the critically acclaimed documentary Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities directed by Stanley Nelson. Stacey has directed/produced award-winning shorts and content for cable TV (Red Heeled). Her documentary Dressed Like Kings, which garnered the Tribeca Film Festival All Access Award, is currently streaming as part of Black Public Media's AfroPop digital shorts series.
Roy L. Austin, Jr
Inaugural Director, Howard University School
of Law’s Artificial Intelligence Initiative
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Roy L. Austin, Jr. is the inaugural director of Howard University School of Law’s Artificial Intelligence Initiative. The initiative’s mission is to develop artificial intelligence solutions that advance civil and human rights, justice, fairness, and the rule of law. Previously, Austin was Meta’s vice president of civil rights and deputy general counsel. Before joining Meta, Austin was a partner with Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis LLP and McDermott Will & Emery, where he primarily practiced criminal defense, civil, and civil rights litigation.
During his nearly 20-year tenure in the federal government, Austin held several prominent positions. He began his career as an honors trial attorney with the Criminal Section of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, where he investigated and prosecuted hate crime and police brutality cases. He served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division, where he supervised the criminal section and the special litigation section’s law enforcement portfolio. Austin also served on the White House Domestic Policy Council as deputy assistant to the president for the Office of Urban Affairs, Justice, and Opportunity, where he co-authored a report on Big Data and Civil Rights, worked with the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, helped develop the Police Data Initiative, worked on the expansion of reentry assistance, and was a member of President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Task Force.
Michon Boston
Founder, Michon Boston Group
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