Conversations on Race Film Screening Saturday

Join the Community Coalition on Race on September 28th at 2 pm for a screening and community discussion of Freedom Riders, a film that documents the story of people—black and white together—who test and challenge segregated buses and facilities in the South in 1961. The freedom riders were figured in the recent Oprah Winfree film The Butler—here’s a chance to gain a deeper understanding of their pivotal role in civil rights.

Freedom Riders is the powerful, harrowing and ultimately inspirational story of six months in 1961 that changed America forever. From May until November 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives—and many endured savage beatings and imprisonment—for simply traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South. Deliberately violating Jim Crow laws, the Freedom Riders met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in nonviolent activism.

The Community Coalition on Race has partnered with the Maplewood and South Orange Libraries to bring this opportunity to learn and talk about civil rights, nonviolent action, and creating a more inclusive society.  Historian Tom McCabe, visiting Professor of History at Rutgers and resident of South Orange, will lead our discussion.  We will consider how these events affect our lives today and what we can do to further the cause of integration and inclusion.

This program is part of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities’ community-based discussion program, Face to Face: Community Conversations that encourages dialogue on issues central to civic life in New Jersey.  It features film screening and discussion events that work together to foster and sustain meaningful public conversations.

When: Saturday, September 28th, 2:00 pm
Where: Maplewood Memorial Library
Sign up: This event is free and open to the public.  Advance reservations are encouraged!  

This event has been made possible by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and is a “Created Equal” project.  “Created Equal” is part of the Bridging Cultures Initiative of the NEH, produced in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, to encourage public conversations about the changing meanings of freedom and equality in the United States.