A professor at the University of South Alabama for 20 years, Dr. Kern Jackson is chair of the African American Studies Program at the university and studies folklore, myths, legends and oral narrative. He also co-wrote, co-produced and is featured in “Descendant,” a new documentary about Africatown and the discovery of the Clotilda. The film was directed by Margaret Brown, a Mobile native, and is now out on Netflix.

Though Jackson is not originally from Mobile, his roots in Africatown run deep—his maternal grandmother was the vice principal of a high school in the neighborhood. Here, we discuss his involvement with the film, why it’s so important and the future of Africatown.

Questions and answers have been condensed and edited for clarity.

Tell me about your involvement with the film and with Margaret Brown.

My involvement is just an extension of my teaching. I do African American content and have been doing African American content, culture, community activity and media. Multimedia is a good forum to do that within. I don’t know, you do things that reflect your values, if you’re lucky enough you find good people to work with. We have a long-standing relationship, Margaret and I, a creative relationship that goes back 15 years on other projects. I like working with artists. They’re typically more ethical than others. And I’m an English scholar. Stories are the thing, perspectives of stories. There are not a lot of PhDs in Mobile, Alabama in English and storytelling collecting, and therefore I fulfill a role in my community.