By Mary Barrett '14
Paul Murray, Ph.D. is committed to ensuring that the Civil Rights Movement isn’t relegated to only history classrooms and conversations about the past. The Siena College Professor of Sociology wants to make sure people consider the relevance of the Movement’s issues in today’s society and he’s using film to facilitate discussions about it.
Murray received a grant funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and distributed by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History to present a film series that promotes an understanding and appreciation of humanities. With the grant, he launched “The Created Equal Film Series” at Siena College. Along with showing films related to the Civil Rights Movement, Murray invites fellow faculty, local leaders and special guests to participate in discussions about the topic being covered.
“I think it’s important to understand that the films themselves are designed to be a vehicle to stimulate discussion by viewers,” said Murray.
This month’s movie was “Freedom Riders,” a film about the infamous and often dangerous mixed-race bus rides into the south as a form of nonviolent protest against racial discrimination. After the film, actual Freedom Riders Albert Gordon and Bob Heller discussed their roles in the rides and fielded questions.
When asked about the contemporary relevance of the issues that they fought with Freedom Rides, Heller acknowledged that today’s issues are different, but at heart, they haven’t changed. “The main issue today is the way that people think and the way people treat each other,” Heller said.
Gordon agreed. “There are many issues that are not as stark and obvious as Jim Crow and state-sponsored segregation, but these issues are huge,” Gordon said, adding that it is now this generation’s turn to address the challenges by getting involved somehow, whether writing a letter to a Congressional representative or participating in a demonstration.
As Murray hoped, the event seemed to spark thought among Siena students. “(It) gave civil rights activists the chance to share and inspire students such as myself to stand up for what they believe in,” said sociology major Monique Jenkinson ’16.
“The Created Equal Film Series” continues on March 26 with the film “An Ordinary Hero.” The movie tells the story of Joan Mulholland, a white college student from the south who participated in the Freedom Rides, enrolled in a historically black college and fought for civil rights. After the film, Mulholland will participate in an interactive discussion.
The film series is free and open to the public. It is co-sponsored by the Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region, the Center for Law and Justice and the African American Cultural Center of the Capital Region and Siena College’s Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Lecture Series on Race and Nonviolent Social Change.
