First Thursday: "Always in Season"

Our First Thursday Film group is back!

For July, we'll look at a powerful and disturbing documentary, "Always in Season".

From the film's website:

"ALWAYS IN SEASON explores the lingering impact of more than a century of lynching African Americans and connects this form of historic racial terrorism to racial violence today. The film centers on the case of Lennon Lacy, an African American teen who was found hanging from a swing set in Bladenboro, North Carolina, on August 29, 2014. Despite inconsistencies in the case, local officials quickly ruled Lennon’s death a suicide, but his mother, Claudia, believes Lennon was lynched. Claudia moves from paralyzing grief to leading the fight for justice for her son.

"As the film unfolds, Lennon’s case, and the suspicions surrounding it, intersect with stories of other communities seeking justice and reconciliation. A few hundred miles away in Monroe, Georgia, a diverse group of reenactors, including the adult daughter of a former Ku Klux Klan leader, annually dramatize a 1946 quadruple lynching to ensure the victims are never forgotten and encourage the community to come forward with information that might bring the perpetrators to justice. As the terrorism of the past bleeds into the present, the film asks: what will it take for Americans to begin building a national movement for racial justice and reconciliation?"

We are honored to announce that our panel for this evening’s discussion includes three members of the Maryland Lynching Truth & Reconciliation Commission:

• David Fakunle, Ph.D. is the Chair of the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In 2013 he cofounded DiscoverME/RecoverME, an organization that utilizes the African oral tradition to encourage the claiming of one’s narrative for personal and organizational growth. Dr. Fakunle earned his doctorate from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he is currently Associate Faculty in the Mental Health department and serves as Adjunct Faculty at the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine. Dr. Fakunle’s research interests include stressors within the built environment, manifestations of institutional racism in society, and the utilization of arts and culture to strengthen health, equity, and ultimately liberation.

• Charles Chavis, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of Conflict Resolution and History at George Mason University, where he is also the founding director of the John Mitchell, Jr. Program for History, Justice, and Race at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. He is the national co-chair for the United States Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Movement and the vice chair of the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission and also serves on the board of directors of the MD Lynching Memorial Project. Dr. Chavis is the author of the soon to be published The Silent Shore: The Lynching of Matthew Williams and the Politics of Racism in the Free State.
  
  
  
• Carl Snowden is a legendary civil rights and community activist, columnist and convener of the Caucus of African American Leaders. Fifty years ago, as a student, Snowden led a boycott of Annapolis High School to protest lack of African American faculty and curriculum. Carl was also instrumental in gaining a posthumous pardon from Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening for John Snowden (no relation) who was executed in Annapolis in 1919. Mr. Snowden spearheaded the drive to create the first memorial in the State of Maryland to the victims of lynching in 2001

Also joining us for the discussion will be students in the from the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University.

MLMP has arranged to provide a FREE SCREENING to every registrant.

When you register to attend, you will receive an email with instructions and a link to view the film. The film is available for screening NOW through July 2.

The same email will also include separate link for the panel discussion!

We look forward to seeing you on July 1 at 7p for this important discussion!