Anne Braden: Southern Patriot (1924-2006) is a first person documentary about a white southern lady who fought against racism and mentored three generations of social justice activists. On January 7, at 7 pm, First Tuesday Social Justice Films presents a free showing of this film at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff, 3839 W. Kiest Blvd., Dallas, TX. Audience discussion follows.
In a sense, the battle is and always has been for the hearts and mind of white people is this country. The fight against racism is not something we’re called on to help people of color with. We need to become involved as if our lives depended on it because, in truth, they do. Anne Braden, 2001
Ms. Braden was born in Louisville, Kentucky, raised in a middle class family in rigidly segregated Anniston, Alabama. Her family wholeheartedly accepted racial prejudice. Although uncomfortable with segregation, she didn’t question it until her college years and went on to become a supporter of the civil rights movement when it was unpopular to do so among southern whites.
In his 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. described the ostracized Braden as “eloquent and prophetic.”
*“That few Americans will have heard her story before now is a sad commentary on the inadequacy of our nation’s educational system, and an even more distressing indication of how often bravery and courage are overlooked when the emanate from those who challenge some of our most cherished myth’s about American democracy. This film is a must-see.” Tim Wise, author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son and Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority
*“A gem of a film, accented with freedom fighters who speak firsthand about carving a path through a traumatized, violent, racist South, to make way for one of the largest and most effective nonviolent movements for social change the world has ever seen.” Joan Baez
“Deeply moving and a valuable contribution to American history.” Pat Aufderheide, Center for Social Media, American University
*“A magnificent portrait of the Anne Braden I knew: courageous, militantly anti-racist to the core. Anne Braden changed my life; this film will change yours.” Robin D.G. Kelley, Author and Historian
Anne Braden: Southern Patriot (1924-2006) (http://vimeo.com/40479556) is cosponsored by the UUCOC’s Social Justice Ministry and the Dallas Peace Center http://dallaspeacecenter.org /. For more information and schedules, visit the website at http://www.firsttuesdayfilms.org/index.shtml or http://www.facebook.com/firsttuesdayfilms
