MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury Showing Up for Racial Justice continues the second season of its Seeing Color/Seeking Justice film series at the Marquis Theater in downtown Middlebury.
“If Beale Street Could Talk,” the third film of this year’s series, will be shown on Wednesday, Feb. 13, at 1, 4, 7, and 8:30 p.m. “If Beale Street Could Talk” is based on the acclaimed 1974 novel by James Baldwin. Academy Award winner (Moonlight) Barry Jenkins wrote the screenplay and directed the film. “This film knows that suffering and joy are strange bedfellows, opposites that are quite often prone to finding each other, sometimes within the same beat,” says film reviewer Odie Henderson.
The SURJ 2018-2019 series, which chooses films that address issues of race, shows films on the second Wednesday of each month. A suggested donation of ten dollars raises funds for a variety of racial justice efforts. Proceeds from February’s film are going to the Rutland Area NAACP and the Justice for Kiah Morris Fund.
Former State Representative Kiah Morris was Vermont’s only Black female legislator, until racist threats and harassment forced her to resign from her position. The Attorney General of Vermont, TJ Donovan, recently announced that no charges would be filed in case. The Rutland Area branch of the NAACP is dedicated to the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminating race-based discrimination in Vermont, and has been an advocate for Kiah Morris throughout this ordeal.
Middlebury SURJ hopes that the proceeds from this film, plus additional donations from generous community members, will move us closer to being a state where people of all races and ethnicities can thrive. To give directly to the Justice for Kiah Morris Fund, donors can visit gofundme.com/justice-for-kiah-morris
Middlebury SURJ hopes to raise awareness of the many ways racism harms people of all races and ethnicities, and give Addison County residents tools to dismantle white supremacy in themselves and in their family, community, and nation.
The March film, to be shown on Wednesday, March 13, will be “Blindspotting,” starring David Diggs.