A writer and producer knew she wanted to share the compelling story of an Oklahoma City bombing survivor the minute she learned that he led several people to safety in the aftermath of the blast, despite his blindness.
Now, Princella Smith’s animated film telling the story of the late Raymond Washburn has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award.
Smith, a native of Arkansas who currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee, said her animated short film “Walk In The Light” tells the nearly 30 year-old story of Oklahoma City bombing hero Washburn through a flashback that he has as he shares his perspective with his fictional 8-year-old granddaughter Aiyana.
The independently produced film has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the Motion Picture/Outstanding Short Form (Animated) category. Other nominees in this category include “if/fy,” “Nate and John,” “Peanut Headz: Black History Toonz Jackie Robinson,” and “Self.”
More: OKC bombing, 29 years later: Memories of resilience, compassion amid a painful moment in history
Smith said she was excited when she learned that her film had been nominated.
“It’s a huge deal,” she said.
“Walk in the Light” writer and producer Princella Smith is shown with Oklahoma City bombing survivor Raymond Washburn.
“It’s award season so you have the Screen Actors Guild, People’s Choice, Oscars, Golden Globe and Critics Choice. The NAACP Image Awards are right there. I’m just still pinching myself.”
She has been sharing the news about the nomination because members of the public may vote to determine the winners of the NAACP Image Awards through 11 p.m. Feb. 7., and she’s hoping people will vote for “Walk in the Light.”
Washburn died in 2022 and his wife Mary Lou died in 2024, both while the film was in production. Smith said before Washburn’s death, his wife read the script to him and they both gave the green light for her to move forward with the project.
“I promised both of them before they died that the world would know who they are, so I created this film with a real sense of purpose,” Smith said.
An illustrated version of Raymond Washburn is shown in the snack bar he operated in the Alfred P. Murrah Building in this screenshot from “Walk in the Light.” Provided by Princella Smith
Meeting a hero
Smith said she became interested in the Oklahoma City bombing in 2016, when her Little Rock, Arkansas, radio show hosted a guest who had written a book about having lost loved ones in the bombing and how she came to forgive.
Smith said that encounter led her to research many of the survivors, first responders and other heroes of the 1995 bombing. She ultimately wrote a script for a feature-length live action film that she titled “Beauty for Ashes,” from Isaiah 61:3.
She was particularly interested in Washburn because, although he was born blind, he managed to free himself, three customers, and one employee from the bombing rubble of the Alfred. P. Murrah federal building by leading them from the area that had been the fourth-floor snack stand he owned and operated there.
Raymond Washburn and his fictional granddaughter “Aiyana” are shown in this screenshot from “Walk in the Light.”
Smith visited the Washburns in their Bristow home and the first thing Mary Lou Washburn did was hand her a little booklet that she’d typed up about her husband’s experiences at the federal building and in the aftermath of the bombing.
Then, Raymond Washburn began sharing his story and Smith said she incorporated many aspects of what she was told into “Walk in the Light.” Smith said she learned that Washburn had been a championship wrestler and that he played beep ball, a form of baseball for the visually impaired.
The Washburns also told her that Raymond was a member of the Yuchi tribe and members of the tribe call themselves the “children of the sun.”
“I thought, ‘This is perfect — I’m going to call this “Walk in the Light,” and talk about leading by the light of your heart,'” Smith said.
Oklahoma City bombing survivor Raymond Washburn is shown alongside the animated version of him featured in “Walk in the Light,” an animated short film.
Hopes for distribution
Getting widespread distribution for “Walk in the Light” is a goal for Smith. She said the film did well on the film festival circuit and she’s hoping that winning a prestigious NAACP Image Award and the exposure as a nominee could bring donors that will help fund distribution of the animated short on a streaming platform or another platform that would share Washburn’s story with more people.
Smith said her longtime goal is to secure funding to make “Beauty for Ashes,” which has won several script contests.
She said “Beauty for Ashes” will feature Washburn and more heroes and survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing and how people came together, regardless of differences, to help each other in the aftermath of the blast.
“I’m trying to tell about love and light and I think it’s powerful right now,” she said.
‘Walk in the Light’
For more information about the animated short film “Walk in the Light,” go to https://walkinthelightfilm.com/. To cast a vote for the film in the NAACP Image Award Motion Picture/Outstanding Short Form (Animated) category, through 11 p.m. Feb. 7, go to the Outstanding Short Form (Animated) category under the Motion Picture section at https://www.naacpimageawards.net/nominees/1?category=47.
Firefighter Allen Hill, an Oklahoma City bombing first responder, is shown in a screenshot from “Walk in the Light.”
Oklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. The bombing left 168 people dead, including 19 children. It was the deadliest act of terrorism in U.S. history until the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 surpassed it. It remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Film about blind OKC bombing survivor is nominated for an NAACP award
