“Forgotten Hollywood”- Freedom Riders Visit Screening…

Posted on December 14, 2013 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

   Denzel Washington is hosting a Screen Actors Guild screening of note. He’ll be joined by surviving members and children of the original Freedom Riders at a showing of Lee Daniels’ The Butler on Tuesday. This Hollywood-and-Vine moment (where Tinsel Town and Americana intersect) will be held at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre and is sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This important event will include a conversation after the screening with the makers of the motion picture production, including Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Director Lee Daniels, among others in the cast with the Freedom Riders.

EngoziMfon_LeFlore_with_Freedom_Riders   In 1961, the Freedom Riders set out for the Deep South to defy Jim Crow laws and call for change. They were met by hatred and violence — and local police often refused to intervene. But, their efforts transformed the Civil Rights movement. They traveled on Greyhounds and other buses through Montgomery, Alabama and Jackson, Mississippi in mixed racial groups to challenge local laws or customs that enforced segregation in seating.

Bull_Connor_(1960)   The first Freedom Ride left Washington, D.C., on May 4th, 1961, and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17th. The Birmingham Police Commissioner, Bull Connor, together with Police Sergeant Tom Cook (an avid Ku Klux Klan supporter), organized violence against the Freedom Riders with local Ku Klux Klan chapters. The pair made plans to bring the Ride to an end in Alabama. Connor and Alabama Governor George Wallace became the faces of racial segregation. The president federally enforce protection of the Civil Rights’ activists.                                           BULL CONNOR —>

bus_200-1bfce086da14ea18f3c7e3e705cd864598d16de6-s3-c85   Television, radio, and newspaper coverage provided accounts of the daily confrontations, which evoked increased participation by Northern Blacks, students, and those sympathetic to the cause. The Kennedy Administration  and other Democrats joined in the struggle, and the movement eventually led to President Johnson defiantly signing into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

    Lee Daniels’ The Butler captures this historic moment in time in a momumental story that stars Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey. Both are nominated for SAG Awards for their roles in the film.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 14th, 2013 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.


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