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So said Lecia Brooks, Outreach Director of the Montgomery, AL- basedSouthern Poverty Law Center. She was at the Pelham Picture House on Thursday, June 2 for the screening of the documentary "Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot."
The showing took place just a few blocks from where Civil Rights worker and former Pelham resident Michael Schwerner went to high school.
Kids from The Boys and Girls Club of New Rochelle were in attendance as was an audience of many parents and their children.
The series was presented as part of The Picture House's "Worldview" series which explores -- through the lens of film -- how we learn about people and issues outside of our daily sphere of reference and what our responsibility is to the global society at large.
This 40-minute film, narrated by Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer, centers on the forgotten heroes in the fight for voting rights—the courageous students and teachers of Selma, who stood up against injustice despite facing intimidation, arrests and violence.
By organizing and marching bravely, these change-makers achieved one of the most significant victories of the Civil Rights era.
"Any real movement is led by, driven by, inspired by, youth," stressed Brooks. In 'Selma,' their commitment to non-violent resistance really upset the other side and helped bring the nation's attention to what was going on with blacks and voting rights in Alabama."
Go to http://selma.splcenter.org/ for more information on the film; to www.thepicturehouse.org/ for updates on what's showing next at The Pelham Picture House.
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