Freedom Riders program continues with series of performance festivals held on three consecutive Saturdays in May.
CHICAGO – Join the Illinois Humanities Council and its partners in honoring some of the most important civil rights activists of the 20th century through original commissioned performance pieces by the Neighborhood Writing Alliance, Congo Square Theatre, and Young Chicago Authors. From May to December 1961, over 400 mostly young Americans risked their lives and freedom to challenge the Jim Crow travel laws that remained in force throughout the South, despite rulings that had outlawed racial segregation in interstate travel. The Freedom Riders were committed to non-violent action, yet faced savage beatings, angry mobs, and imprisonment on their journeys.
The Freedom Riders program will continue with a series of Chicago performance festivals inspired by Freedom Riders, a documentary on these courageous activists inspired by the book Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice. These events will take place on the first three Saturdays in May at three different locations throughout the city. The premiere event will take place on Saturday, May 7, 2011, from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. at the DuSable Museum of African American History (740 E 56th Place, Chicago). The second event will take place on Saturday, May 14, 2011, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library (9525 S Halsted St, Chicago). The final event of the series will take place on Saturday, May 21, 2011, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the PowerHouse/Foundation for Homan Square (931 S Homan Ave, Chicago). Each of these events is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. For reservations, visit prairie.org/freedomriders, or contact the IHC at 312.422.5580 or ihc@prairie.org.
Other events for the Freedom Riders program have included screenings of the film and discussions with surviving Freedom Riders in Chicago, Carbondale and East St. Louis, and a special screening for Chicago Public School students.
Lead partner for Freedom Riders is PBS’s American Experience. The funders for the series are The Field Foundation of Illinois and The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, with additional travel support provided by Southwest Airlines. Co-sponsors for the series are: WBEZ-Chicago, DuSable Museum of African-American History, Neighborhood Writing Alliance, Congo Square Theatre, Young Chicago Authors, Chicago Freedom School, Center for the Study of Race Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago, Woodson Regional Library, The Foundation for Homan Square, The African-American Museum of Southern Illinois, WSIU, Varsity Center for the Arts, and Freedom Trails Legacies of Hope. This program is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Views and opinions expressed by individual panelists, scholars, and artists in Freedom Riders do not necessarily state or reflect those of partner organizations in the series, the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, or the Illinois General Assembly.
The Illinois Humanities Council is a nonprofit educational organization [501 (c) 3] dedicated to fostering a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of individuals and communities. Organized in 1973 as the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the IHC creates programs and funds organizations that promote greater understanding of, appreciation for, and involvement in the humanities by all Illinoisans, regardless of their economic resources, cultural background, or geographic location. The IHC is supported by state, federal, and private funds.
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