New documentary highlights
Selma high school students'
role in voting rights effort
BY DONNA ROGERS
THE CHRONICLE
The 1965 Voting Rights
Act was signed into law on
Aug. 6,1965.
The movie "Selma"
focuses on events that led
to the signing of the Voting
Rights Act. The movie
"Selma: The Bridge to the
Ballot" does too, but it
focuses on the participation
of high school students and
teachers in the events lead
ing to the law.
The Southern Poverty
Law Center (SPLC), which
is dedicated to fighting hate
and bigotry and to seeking
justice for the most vulner
able members of society,
presented a screening of its
40-minute documentary,
"Selma: The Bridge to the
Ballot" Thursday evening,
July 30, at Hanesbrands
Theatre, 209 Spruce St N.
in Winston-Salem.
SPLC says Academy
Award winner Octavia
Spencer narrates the 40
minute documentary. The
film is being shown now to
help mark the 50th anniver
sary of the Voting Rights
Act.
Elizabeth Spears,
regional advancement
director for the Southern
Poverty Law Center, said,
"We think young people
need to know their part in
the story."
She said the movie is
being marketed under the
Teaching Tolerance divi
sion of the SPLC. The
DVD is free for those who
go to tolerance.org and reg
ister with the organization,
which wants middle and
high school students and
teachers especially to see
the documentary. The
Teaching Tolerance project
combats prejudice among
the nation's youth while
I
promoting equality, inclu
siveness and equitable
learning environments in
the classroom.
The movie provides a
look into the Civil Rights
Movement from the eyes of
high school students and
their teachers in Selma.
Young student organizers -
See more about the
1965 Voting Rights Act
on Page A7
16- and 17-year-olds -
became members of the
Student Non-violent
Coordinating Committee
(SNCC) and were trained
in strategy by adults. A fact
that has not been highlight
ed in previous documen
taries is that students and
teachers in Selma,
Alabama, and nearby coun
ties walked out of school to
protest and attempt to reg
ister to vote. More than a
thousand students and
scores of teachers partici
pated over two years lead
ing up to the signing of the
Voting Rights Act. Also,
independent business peo
ple, such as beauticians and
undertakers, protested.
Most of these people were
arrested, even the students,
and had to spend time in
jail.
High school students
took part in the historic
marches designed to take
protesters from Selma to
the capital of Alabama,
Montgomery. Only one
succeeded, and the students
were among the 25,000
people who celebrated as
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. spoke at the
Capitol in Montgomery.
Linda Sutton, Central
Piedmont Organizer for
Democracy North Carolina
and co-founder of the
Winston-Salem Voting
Rights Coalition, was the
facilitator for a discussion
after the screening. She
spoke about the voting
rights trial in federal court
in Winston-Salem, N.C.
NAACP vs, McCrory. The
trial ended Friday, July 31.
Sutton urged those in the
audience to get involved in
working for voter rights
and the election process.
She named several
ways people can get
involved:
?Help to make online
voter registration a reality.
?"Become a watchdog at
Board of Election meetings
and explain any election
problems at voting places
to the board.
?Become a poll worker
inside a polling place or an
election protection worker
outside a polling place.
?Meet with elected
officials in Raleigh about
voting rights.
?Help to encourage 18
year olds to register and
vote.
?Help to get people to
the polls to vote.
*Work with phone
banks, encouraging people
to vote.
?Form registration
drives or help people regis
ter to vote.
"I encourage you to get
involved where you are,"
Sutton said.
After the discussion,
audience member Rose
Marie Norman said: "We
hear things, we think we
know things, but we really
don't. We have to revisit,
even as old people. I don't
think we understand the
impact of the restrictions of
the new law [the 2013 N.C.
voting rights law],
"I'm not at risk in terms
of the photo ID [part of the
2013 law], and that makes
a difference. We don't
always, to be honest, think
about that person who
doesn't have it, don't think
about the money [needed to
obtain the official ID], We
take so much for granted,
but we need to be reminded
that in order to make things
happen, we're going to
need all of us ."
The documentary
"Selma: Bridge to the
Ballot" will be shown
again at the Winston-Salem
Urban League, 201 W. 5th
St., on Friday, Aug. 7 at
9:30a.m.
Photo by Donna Rogers
The crowd at Hanesbrands Theatre anticipates voting rights discussion.
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