Opened to the public in June of this year, Power of Protest: Effecting Social Change, a new history exhibit at the Cayuga Museum, addresses the history of protest through the lens of both national and local level movements. An accompanying film series, Change Makers Around the World, expands that focus to take a look at international protests as well, inviting visitors to consider protest as a fundamental human experience.
“Freedom Riders is the powerful harrowing and ultimately inspirational story of six months in 1961 that changed America forever. From May until November 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives—and many endured savage beatings and imprisonment—for simply traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South. Deliberately violating Jim Crow laws in order to test and challenge a segregated interstate travel system, the Freedom Riders met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in nonviolent activism.”
Ron VanNostrand, an experienced Auburn community organizer, will moderate the discussion: inviting audiences to consider the impact of civil disobedience in the face of unjust systems, and its impact across the United States’ history.
Change Makers Around the World, a Power of Protest Film Series, is presented in four, monthly documentaries from September to December. Each session will be hosted in the Carriage House Theater from 6:30-8:30PM. Freedom Riders will be shown in the Carriage House Theater on Monday, October 21.
Admission for each session is free, though donations to the museum are welcomed. You can learn more about the film series at https://cayugamuseum.org/power-of-protest-film-series/.
Join the Cayuga Museum for this unique chance to engage with the fundamental human right to resist, protest, and demonstrate. This program is a part of the Finger Lakes Film Trail. To learn more about the film trail go to https://cayugamuseum.org/finger-lakes-film-trail/. Change Makers Around the World is sponsored by the Fred M. Everett and Ora H. Everett Charitable Trust, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee. Support is also provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
If you are interested in learning more about this documentary series, reach out to Development Director Geoffrey Starks at geoffrey@cayugamuseum.org or call (315) 253-8051. The Carriage House Theater is located behind the Cayuga Museum at 203 Genesee St. in Auburn. Parking is available next to the theater.