Films, ‘Hallowed Ground’ Event Highlight Black History Month
Release Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Contact: Erica Fields, Human Relations Council, 937-333-1403
Lamonte Hall, Jr., Recreation & Youth Services, 937-333-3393
A film series and a local history celebration are highlights of Black History Month in
Dayton.
The Dayton Human Relations Council will present Black History Movie Nights, with
films followed by discussion. The series begins with “Selma” (February 12) and
continues with “Fruitvale Station” (February 19) and “American Denial” (February 26).
All screenings begin at 6 p.m. at the Central State University Dayton Campus (840
Germantown St., Rm. 115). Admission is free (doors open 30 minutes prior to
screening time; tickets are not required). Pizza and beverages will be provided. Black
History Movie Nights are sponsored by the PNC Foundation. For more information,
call 937-333-1413.
A special celebration of Black History Month comes to Dayton’s Northwest
Recreation Center (1600 Princeton Dr.) on Saturday, February 6. “Hallowed Ground,
African American Sacred Places and Memories” will feature entertainment, displays,
discussion, food and more. The event takes place from 1 to 3 p.m. and is presented
by the Department of Recreation and Youth Services in collaboration with the
Association for Study of African American Life and History, Paul Laurence Dunbar
Branch. Admission is free.
More about the films presented at Black History Movie Nights:
Selma: The unforgettable true story chronicles a tumultuous three-month period in
1965 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal
voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to
Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965,
one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava
DuVernay’s “Selma” tells the story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. King
and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered
history.
Fruitvale Station: Winner of both the Grand Jury Prize for dramatic feature and the
Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, director
Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station” is a critically acclaimed 2013 film based on the
events leading to the death of Oscar Grant, a young Black man who was killed by
police at the Fruitvale Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in Oakland, CA.
American Denial: In the wake of recent events that have sparked a national dialogue,
“American Denial” explores the power of unconscious biases around race and class.
Using Gunnar Myrdal’s 1944 investigation of Jim Crow racism as a springboard, the
film shows how unrecognized, unconscious attitudes continue to dominate racial
dynamics in American life. Exploring “stop-and frisk” practices, the incarceration
crisis, and racially patterned poverty, the film features a wide array of historians,
psychologists and sociologists who offer expert insight and share their own personal,
unsettling stories.
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