Monday, June 16, 6:00 pm, Civic Center Library
To mark the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the National Endowment for the Humanities has developed a special project as part of its Bridging Cultures initiative: Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle. As part of this project, we will present the documentary Freedom Riders. Freedom Riders tells the terrifying, moving, and suspenseful story of a time when white and black volunteers riding a bus into the Deep South risked being jailed, beaten, or killed, as white local and state authorities ignored or encouraged violent attacks. The film includes previously unseen amateur 8-mm footage of the burning bus on which some Freedom Riders were temporarily trapped, taken by a local twelve-year-old and held as evidence since 1961 by the FBI.
After the film, Christopher Schimers, Macomb County Community College Librarian, will discuss the film and civil rights issues of today.
This program will be held in the conference room next to the Civic Center Library. Registration is required for this program. Please call 586.574.4564 to register. Refreshments will be served.
Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle is made possible through a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of its Bridging Cultures initiative, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
