The Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center (630 - 7th Avenue, Rock Island) will host a three part screening and discussion of the 2013 American Experience documentary The Abolitionists. The center's Director, Reverend Dwight Ford will lead the discussions on three consecutive Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m.: Part 1 on April 15th, Part 2 on April 22nd, and Part 3 on April 29th. This documentary is one of four films featured in the Created Equal: America's Civil Rights Struggle film series. These events are free and no registration is required.
The Abolitionists vividly brings to life the struggles of the men and women who led the battle to end slavery. Through innovative use of reenactments, this three episode series puts a face on the anti-slavery movement?or rather, five faces: William Lloyd Garrison, impassioned New England newspaper editor; Frederick Douglass, former slave, author, and activist; Angelina Grimké, daughter of a rich South Carolina slaveholder; Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of the enormously influential Uncle Tom's Cabin; and John Brown, ultimately executed for his armed seizure of the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry. The film's release in 2013 also marked the 150th anniversary year of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Reverend Dwight Ford has served as Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center since 2012. He has a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in business management from Western Illinois University. He also served in the United States Marine Corps from 1989 to 1994, serving in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, and received several medals during his service. He grew up in Rock Island and has been a featured speaker at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Service and Awards Celebration.
Created Equal is presented as part of the six-week series Created Equal and Changing America, which explores our nation's civil rights history through film, exhibition, and presentations. More information can be found online at molinelibrary.com/createdequal
Created Equal: America's Civil Rights Struggle is made possible through a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of its Bridging Cultures initiative, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
Changing America is presented by the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of American History in collaboration with the American Library Association Public Programs Office. The traveling exhibition is made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.
Local support for Created Equal and Changing America has been provided by Friends of the Moline Public Library, WQPT, and The Moline Dispatch/Rock Island Argus/QCOnline.
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