NPS - National Park Service

06/09/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/09/2021 09:15

Freedom Riders National Monument to Host Summer Movie Series in Zinn Park

Date:
June 9, 2021
Contact:Jessica Epperson, 256-499-7209

ANNISTON, AL - Freedom Riders National Monument (FRRI), in partnership with the City of Anniston and Main Street Anniston, will host a series of free movie nights in Zinn Park throughout the summer of 2021. Films featured at these events will explore civil rights history through stories about activism, courage, and perseverance.

FRRI will open the movie series with a screening of Selma on June 19th, following Main Street Anniston's Juneteenth celebration. Selma tells the story of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches. Led by organizers that included Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and veterans of the Freedom Rides, march participants faced violence as they fought to secure voting rights.

In July, FRRI will show the film 42 on July 17th. 42 explores the life and impacts of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play Major League Baseball. Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in 1945-1946 as a first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers and went on to a Hall of Fame career.

FRRI's summer movie series will close with a showing of Just Mercy on August 21st. Just Mercy centers on the trial of Walter McMillian and his lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.

FRRI Summer Movie Series film showings will begin at 8:00 pm on each date. Information and updates about each event will be posted on the FRRI Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/FreedomRidersNPS/) and on the FRRI website (https://www.nps.gov/frri/planyourvisit/calendar.htm).