Diversity Film Series

Piedmont Annual Celebration of the Life and Teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

admin — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:12:53 +0000

This is a special event, please note the different location. All are welcome.

Date and Time
January 16, 2012, 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Location
Piedmont Community Hall, 711 Highland Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611 (Map)

Event Details
- Music by Oaktown Jazz
- Presentations by Piedmont Unified School District students
- Potluck Lunch: People are encouraged to bring a dish to share that reflects their heritage
(side dish, salad, dessert or bread).
- We will show a new film about Dr King at about 1:30pm: “At the River I Stand”

For more info contact LoisCorrin@gmail.com or call 510-420-1534.

::

AT THE RIVER I STAND
The 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike and the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King
Produced and directed by David Appleby, Allison Graham and Steven Ross

This moving documentary recounts the two months leading to Martin Luther King Jr.’s death in 1968, after he had come to Memphis to support the strike of 1300 Memphis sanitation workers.

Spring 1968 in Memphis marked the dramatic climax of the Civil Rights movement. At the River I Stand skillfully reconstructs the two eventful months that transformed a strike by Memphis sanitation worker into a national conflagration, and disentangles the complex historical forces that came together with the inevitability of tragedy at the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This 58-minute documentary brings into sharp relief issues that have only become more urgent in the intervening years: the connection between economic and civil rights, debates over strategies for change, the demand for full inclusion of African Americans in American life and the fight for dignity for public employees and all working people.

http://newsreel.org/video/AT-THE-RIVER-I-STAND

Filed under: Class, History, Race

Accidental Hero: Room 408

admin — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:25:41 +0000

Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary, New York International Film & Video Festival

Press Release
“America’s embattled public education system provides kindling for numerous negative news stories—school shootings, drugs, gang violence. Accidental Hero: Room 408 provides a powerful exception to those stereotypes. Following an East Bay public high school teacher and his class, the film tells the story of Tommie Lindsey, an extraordinary man who is changing lives by introducing his students to a little known academic sport called “forensics.” Accidental Hero has important messages about the tremendous potential that young people from diverse backgrounds can realize when they are given the support of good teachers and ample educational tools.”
(56 minutes) by Terri DeBono and Steve Rosen

Welcome to the world of forensics: students train and compete in oratory, debate, and dramatic interpretation of events. By letting students draw on their cultural backgrounds – sometimes pent up pain or anger – the teacher channels emotions into spellbinding performances in this engrossing documentary. Film contains strong language.

Thursday, January 19, 2012
6:30 PM Reception with light snacks | 7:00 – 8:00 PM Film Screening
8:00 – 9:00 PM Community Discussion
Free

http://www.pbs.org/accidentalhero/film/

Filed under: Age/Youth, Class, Education, Race

Writ Writer

admin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:10:00 +0000

Writ Writer portrays the historic conflict that emerged in the 1960s when Texas prisoners petitioned the courts for relief from inhumane prison conditions. Focusing on the story of self-taught jailhouse lawyer Fred Arispe Cruz, the film uncovers his legal battle, his collaboration with poverty law attorney Frances Jalet, and his successful litigation for the right of Texas prisoners to assist one another with lawsuits. His litigation paved the legal path for Ruiz v Estelle, the most comprehensive court-ordered state prison reform litigation in U.S. history.

Thursday, December 1, 2011
6:30 PM Reception | 7:00 – 8:00 PM Film Screening
8:00 – 9:00 PM Community Discussion

Free

Silver Gavel Award | Documentaries

Filed under: Class, History, Race

Paths of the Displaced

admin — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 20:50:13 +0000

“Paths of the Displaced tells three kinds of stories: the first are the stories of five Sudanese teenage refugees and the tremendous hardships they endured to survive war and genocide and escape to the U.S. The second are their stories of survival and adaptation…in Lincoln [Nebraska]. The third is the storyteller’s tale, about [Natalia] Ledford herself, an Anglo-American woman and high school senior at the time the film began, who decided that the stories of her classmates were important enough that the world should know them. Each of these stories is compelling on its own; together they form an irresistible tapestry.” ~ Hanna Day Woodruff, starcityblog.com

Thursday, October 27, 2011
6:30 PM Reception | 7:00 – 8:00 PM Film Screening
8:00 – 9:00 PM Community Discussion

Free

Path of the Displaced

Filed under: Class, International, Race

Cruz Reynoso: Sowing the Seeds of Justice

admin — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 03:52:05 +0000

Cruz Reynoso: Sowing the Seeds of Justice chronicles the life of a man who gave Ronald Reagan fits by fighting for immigrants’ rights, and helped Cesar Chavez improve the lives of millions of farm workers. It will engage students and inspire thought and discussion in a wide range of courses in ethnic and Latino studies, American studies and history, sociology, law and jurisprudence, public policy, and contemporary social problems. It was produced by award-winning filmmaker Abby Ginzberg and narrated by noted actor and writer Luis Valdez.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011
6:30 PM Reception | 7:00 – 8:00 PM Film Screening
8:00 – 9:00 PM Community Discussion

Filed under: Class, History, International, Race