City Tech Library Holds NEH/Gilder-Lehrman Sponsored Film Discussion Series, “Created Equal.”

City Tech Professor of African-American Studies Dionne Bennett discussing the film Slavery by Another Name with students and faculty on February 26.
 
By Prof. Ian Beilin
In the summer of 2013 City Tech Library received a grant co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Gilder-Lehrman Institute for American History entitled “Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle.” The grant provided support for a discussion series centered around four documentary films tracing the history of the civil rights movement in American history.
In the fall City Tech Adjunct Assistant Professor of English Prithi Kanakamedala led a fascinating discussion about the history of slavery and freedom in Brooklyn during colonial times and the early republic, as well as a discussion of the film The Abolitionists.
In the spring City Tech Assistant Professor of African-American Studies Dionne Bennett gave compelling introductions to and led lively discussions about the films Slavery by Another Name and Freedom Riders. Attending students and faculty alike were enthralled and moved by the films and the subjects with which they dealt. Prof. Bennett’s brilliant framing of the issues highlighted the vital importance of the civil rights movement for contemporary American society.
And in April Syracuse University Professor of Law Kevin Noble Maillard visited City Tech to discuss the film The Loving Story, the history of the landmark case that it documents, and the film’s contemporary relevance. Prof. Maillard also prompted attendees to think about the ways that the Loving case remains relevant in today’s legal and political landscape, and he challenged them to think about the ways that the case touches upon their own lives.
 

Syracuse University Professor of Law Kevin Noble Maillard discussing the film The Loving Story on May 5.