NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The lives and accomplishments of black women will be celebrated in March and April with a documentary film series at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center at Vanderbilt University.
The series begins on March 13 with a noon showing of Rosa Parks: Modern Day Heroine. The series will continue each Monday through April 17 and feature documentaries on Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Chisholm, Hattie McDaniel and others.
Film attendees will also be able to view a free art exhibit which opens at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center on March 13 and runs through May 12. The featured works by Khamisi Leonard and Shannen Hill of Atlanta will be available for purchase.
“Black women have made such an impact but oftentimes are rendered invisible by history,” said Frank Dobson, director of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center. “We hope to take a small step toward remedying that by presenting these documentaries.”
All the films will be screened in the auditorium of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center at 2301 Vanderbilt Place on the Vanderbilt campus. The public is invited to the free screenings. All begin at noon.
The complete schedule:
March 13, Rosa Parks: Modern Day Heroine, directed by Ray Pointer
March 20, Ella Fitzgerald: Something to Live For, directed by Charlotte Zwerin
March 27, Beah Richards: A Black Woman Speaks, directed by LisaGay Hamilton
April 3, Aida’s Brothers and Sisters: Black Voices in Opera, directed by Jan Schmidt-Garre and Marieke Schroeder
April 10, Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel, directed by Madison D. Lacy
April 17, Shirley Chisholm: Unbought & Unbossed, directed by Shola Lynch
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu