Directors’ Statement

As directors of Good Home Training, we set out to create a visual and emotional exploration of how generations of Black women have redefined the home as a powerful site of cultural transmission, creativity, and connection.

We began with “good home training,” a phrase many Black families know well. It can be mistaken for simple etiquette, but it holds generations of wisdom, correction, protection, and care. It was being told to “be seen and not heard,” while also being expected to speak clearly when an elder addressed you. It taught restraint, but not silence; confidence, but not arrogance; discipline, but not hardness; beauty, but not excess.

Those tensions sparked deeper questions: What is good home training today, and why does it still matter? What were our ancestors really trying to pass down through their style, discipline, and excellence as homemakers, designers, culinarians, and entrepreneurs?

Our search for answers led us into the archives, where we unearthed the stories of Black women who made home more than a place of shelter. They made it a sanctuary, a seat of wisdom, and a stronghold, infused with beauty, order, and intention.

We pay particular tribute to trailblazers like Malinda Russell, the first known Black person to publish a cookbook in the United States. Her story of resilience, reinvention, and resistance anchors the film's spirit. Like so many of the women we honor, she wasn't trying to make history; she was simply trying to make a life for herself and her child. In doing so, she left a blueprint.

To bring this legacy into the present, we interviewed creatives and culture bearers who helped us contextualize what we found. And when we needed more clarity, we kept going: talking, baking, laughing, listening, and gathering not just history, but lived experience.

The structure of Good Home Training is rooted in the traditions we know best: gathering in the kitchen, the heart of the home, creating together, and passing stories across generations. Through a shared meal, a historic recipe, and intimate conversations among Black women, the film becomes a sensory tribute to food, family, and legacy.

While the short stands as a complete work on its own, it is also the seed of a larger documentary project, one that continues this exploration of memory, home, legacy, and the Black women whose stories are still waiting to be told.

“Good Home Training is both a tribute and a call to action — an invitation to reflect on the lessons passed down to us and to carry them forward with purpose, pride, and possibility.”

- Evolyn Brooks & Riche Holmes Grant