Fri. Jan. 22, 2021 at 7pm VIRTUAL EVENT | Join the virtual screening and conversation featuring “Freedom Riders,” a film that tells the powerful, harrowing, and ultimately inspirational story of six months in 1961 that changed America forever. RSVP HERE
Freedom Riders with Q &A
MSU Libraries and WKAR Present Five Nights Toward Freedom: MLK Commemorative Film Series
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 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 in order to test and challenge a segregated interstate travel system, the Freedom Riders met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in nonviolent activism.
From May until November 1961, more than 400 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 in order to test and challenge a segregated interstate travel system, the Freedom Riders met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in nonviolent activism.
Following the film, join a moderated online discussion. Scheduled panelists include:
- Tama Hamilton-Wray, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Africana Film Studies in MSU's Residential College in the Arts and Humanities.
- Rashida Harrison, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Social Relations and Policy at MSU's James Madison College.
- Jeff Wray is Professor of Film Studies and Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies in MSU's Department of English.
- Tamura Lomax, PhD, is the Founding Associate Professor of African American and African Studies (AAAS) at Michigan State University.
RSVP HERE to join the screening and conversation around Freedom Riders from the comfort and safety of your home. Conversation with the panel begins at approximately 8 p.m.
For more events like this, visit:
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Celebration
More About the Film
From award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson (Wounded Knee, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, The Murder of Emmett Till) Freedom Riders features testimony from a fascinating cast of central characters: the Riders themselves, state and federal government officials, and journalists who witnessed the Rides firsthand. The two-hour documentary is based on Raymond Arsenault's book Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice.
A New Kind of Virtual Event - OVEE
This film screening and conversation is a virtual event hosted by WKAR on the OVEE platform. OVEE stands for Online Viewing and Engagement Experience.
Created by ITVS and funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), OVEE combines quality HD media and livestream content with the community-building conversation of social media in a single-screen experience.