"Mighty Times: The Children’s March": Free Screening in Carrboro!

For the locals, here's something not to miss. Free Oscar-winning documentary, followed by a discussion that can't be beat! Hope to see you there.

For those not in the neighborhood and not familiar with our environs, this sort of thing would likely not happen elsewhere in NC. This is not to say that there are not pockets of "blueness" around the state, but that we have a community here in Carrboro-Chapel Hill-Durham committed to social progress and invested in tackling the important issues. I feel so lucky to live here when I get this sort of announcement in my inbox.

It would be enough that they are screening this important documentary for free, but the opportunity to talk with Tim Tyson, Chuck Stone, and Reginald Hildebrand following the screening is just icing on the cake. Our cup runneth over. Y'all come!

OSCAR-WINNING FILM ABOUT CIVIL RIGHTS TO BE SHOWN IN CARRBORO, DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW

Next week, area residents will have the chance to view an Oscar-winning film and
listen to nationally-reknowned scholars. On Thursday evening, May 26th,  there will
be a free screening of this year’s Oscar winner for Best Documentary Short Film,
Mighty Times: The Children’s March.  The film will begin at 7:00 pm in the Carrboro
Century Center’s Century Hall.  Following the film, there will be a panel discussion
led by Timothy Tyson, Reginald Hildebrand, and Chuck Stone.  The evening is co-sponsored
by the Carrboro Cybrary, the Carrboro Branch Library, and the Carrboro Recreation and
Parks Department.

Mighty Times: The Children’s March recounts the events of 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. 
Children of the city took to the streets and faced police dogs, fire hoses, and
arrest for the sake of justice and Civil Rights.  This march was one of the
pivotal events of the era.  The film was co-produced by the Southern Poverty Law
Center and HBO and took home the 2004 Academy Award for Documentary Short Film.

Timothy Tyson is the author of Blood Done Sign My Name, a book that weaves memoir
and history to tell the story of a racial murder and its aftermath in Oxford, NC
in 1970.  It has been chosen as this year’s UNC-CH Summer Reading book.  Reginald
Hildebrand is a professor of African and Afro-American Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. 
Dr. Hildebrand holds the PhD from Princeton and his primary area of research is the
Emancipation era.  Chuck Stone has worn many hats: professor, journalist, author,
political analyst.  Mr. Stone is currently a professor in the School of Journalism
and Mass Communication at UNC-CH and his teaching and research interests include
First Amendment rights and censorship.  Stone was a firsthand witness to many of
the events of the Civil Rights era.

The idea for the program was hatched when the Southern Poverty Law Center donated
a copy of the film to the Carrboro Branch Library.  Seeing the opportunity to show
it to a wider audience, library staff there and at the Cybrary decided to build a
program around the film.  The Carrboro Recreation and Parks Department signed on
to assist with the evening, offering space, equipment, and support.  Susan Brown
and Jake Lehrer, branch managers of the Cybrary and the Carrboro Branch respectively,
sought local scholars to add to the evening.  Brown notes, “We are fortunate that
this area is so rich in great scholars and speakers such as Professors Hildebrand
and Stone.  We are also lucky that Professor Tyson is currently a fellow at the
National Humanities Center in RTP.”  The speakers for the panel each bring a unique
perspective to the subject of the film and to the history of the American Civil
Rights movement. 

The program will also provide a unique opportunity to learn about history outside
of the classroom.  Program organizers hope that students of all ages will attend
the program to learn about a seminal point in American history through a film lens
and through the voices of those who write about the period and lived through it. 
Brown hopes that families will attend together and that the evening will encourage
people to learn more about the Civil Rights Era.  Brown says she knows just the place
for those who want to learn more * their public library.  “We hope that people will
be inspired to check out books about the period and visit many of the wonderful
websites about the era.  As librarians, we are ready to help folks gain access to
this information.”

The film begins at 7:00 pm on Thursday, May 26th at the Carrboro Century Center. 
The documentary runs approximately 40 minutes, with the discussion to follow
afterwards.  The Century Center is located in the heart of downtown Carrboro at
100 North Greensboro Street.   Parking is available in any of the downtown public
parking lots.  Call 918-7387 for more information. 

Comments

[handdrummer]

Ahh, the folks at Southern Poverty Law Center. I'd love to meet Morris Dees some day. He's been a hero ever since he sued and bankrupted the Georgia(?) Klan and took their meeting house, trucks and sheets. Served the rednecked bastards right. And I say that as a born and bred rednecked anarco-syndicalist populist bastard.

[ae]

handdrummer, Morris Dees is truly a national treasure. If we lived in any other time, he would be decorated with the highest honors this country could offer its citizens. Bankrupting the Klan was a brilliant PR move (not to mention morale boost for pacifist types) in addition to being the right on thing to do.

Sounds like you've got all the power-to-the-people credentials anyone could ask for! =)