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Sisters of Selma:
Bearing Witness for Change
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a one-hour documentary
produced by
Hartfilms
and
Alabama Public Television
supported by
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photo: AP Wide World
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The year was 1965; the
place, Selma, Alabama. For decades, local laws had all but prevented
Blacks from voting. And
those who did venture to protest often faced harassment--even death. Black
Selmians, supported by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., decided to march to the state capital of
Montgomery to draw attention to their plight. On a Sunday in early spring,
dozens of peaceful protesters on their way out
of the city were brutally beaten back by state
troopers and the sheriff's posse on horseback. The
violence of "Bloody Sunday" stunned Americans, focusing
nationwide attention on civil rights.
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Public Screenings
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Chicago, IL
BLACK HARVEST FILM FESTIVAL
Chicago nuns who marched in
Selma for Q&A. |
Kansas City, MO
CROSSCUT--Women Making Movies
The director and associate
producer Bill Hart for Q&A. |
Selma, AL
Presented by the City of Selma
& the Bridge Crossing Jubilee
The director and executive
producer Celia Carey in person. |
Sarasota, FL
Presented by New College
The director and Sister Roberta
Schmidt in person! For a full coverage, please see

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Rochester, NY
Premier presented by WXXI-TV
Channel 21
The director and the Sisters of
Saint Joseph in person! |
Atlanta, GA
2007 Winter/Spring DREAM
Film Series
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A group of American nuns from St. Louis were
among the first to protest the violence. At a time when
many church leaders were reluctant to address the treatment of Blacks in the South, these courageous women
defied authority--and a long history of simply praying for causes--to take their message to the
streets of Selma.
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March 1, 2007 (Selma): l to r. Celia Carey, Jayasri Hart, Etta
Perkins, Bridget Mills.
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The Missouri sisters were
welcomed by the Black residents. This was due in large part to the decades
of bridge-building by sisters from Rochester, New York who had met the education and health care needs of the poor
Blacks of Selma. The Archbishop of Mobile-Birmingham had
prohibited them from joining the marches, so they fed, housed, and cared for waves of
civil rights activists from elsewhere.
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This is a story of
"aggiornamento," a word Pope John XXIII used to describe the "updating" of
societies resistant to change. More importantly, it is the story of a few women who
took it upon themselves to become the agents of that change.
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What did they change?
How were they themselves changed by the experience? Was it all for the better?
Now in their
60's and 70's, the women reassess their roles in the Civil Rights Movement.
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Preview Screening
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Dayton, OH - NOVEMBER
15, 2006
For a full coverage,
please go to
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photo: John Feister, courtesy St. Anthony Messenger
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Sisters of Selma
screened to a full house as part of the the Father Joseph M Davis
Black History Month Celebration at the University of Dayton. It was
followed by a Q&A session with the filmmaker Jayasri
Hart and Sister Antona Ebo
who was among the first to march in Selma. Now 80, Sister Ebo
cited a list of current injustices: the loss of civil liberties, the
erosion of affirmative action and the culture of violence. "I
don't have many more days," she said, "I don't have time to be
resting."
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"I enjoyed the comments of the sisters as
they watched themselves marching," said Asst Prof. of Religious Studies
Cecilia Moore after the screening. "They were a very visible symbol of
faith. That's why they were put on the front line."
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For Asst. Prof. Anthony Smith, the most
important contribution of Sisters of Selma was placing civil disobedience
in a situation young people in the audience could relate to. "It is
difficult to teach the ideas that inspire a movement if the students don't have
access to the context."
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| If you have been
directed to this page from another site and would like to go to the Sisters
of Selma Homepage, please click here. |
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