Tag Archives: Spirit Trickey

LR Film Fest Reel Civil Rights Film Fest continues with MEDGAR EVERS: AN UNSUNG HERO

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medgar-eversFifty years ago this past June, Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers was assassinated in front of his house in Mississippi.  Earlier this week, his widow (Myrlie Evers-Williams) and daughter (Reena Denise Evers-Everette) were honored in Little Rock for their work on behalf of the Civil Rights movement.

The Little Rock Film Festival’s Reel Civil Rights Film Fest continues today with the showing of Medgar Evers: An Unsung Hero.  This 2010 documentary explores the life and legacy of Mr. Evers.  It was produced by some of the creative team behind the AMC hit series Mad Men.  Directed by Michael Cory Davis. This two part film documentary on Medgar Evers provides extensive interviews with Myrlie Evers-Williams (widow), Charles Evers (brother), Reena Evers-Everette (daughter), Kestin Boyce, Derrick Johnson, and more.

The Reel Civil Rights Festival is sponsored by the Little Rock Film Festival in partnership with the National Park Service trough its Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.  It was founded by Spirit Trickey.

The film will be shown at 6pm in the auditorium at Historic Arkansas Museum.

Following the film, Jerry Mitchell, an investigative reporter from The Clarion-Ledger will lead a talkback.

LR Film Fest Presents Reel Civil Rights Film Festival – Gideon’s Army

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gideons_slab_540As a part of its year round programming schedule, The Little Rock Film Festival is proud to announce the 2013 Reel Civil Rights Film Festival – in proud partnership with the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

The festival was originally founded by Spirit Trickey, daughter of one of the Little Rock Nine. The dates of the festival are centered around the anniversary of the desegregation crisis at Little Rock Central High that took place on September 25th, 1997.

“Little Rock’s importance in American civil rights history makes our city the perfect place to hold the Reel Civil Rights Film Festival,” says LRFF Executive Director Craig Renaud. “The Little Rock Film Festival is proud to help grow the Reel Civil Rights Film Festival into one more reason why Little Rock is becoming the next great Southern City.”

The Reel Civil Rights Film Festival runs from September 26 through September 28.  All films are screened at Historic Arkansas Museum.

Tonight’s film is Gideon’s Army.  It starts at 6pm.  It is a documentary which follows three young, committed Public Defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up.

In 1961 Clarence Earl Gideon was arrested for stealing soda and a few dollars from a pool hall.  He could not afford an attorney and was convicted after representing himself at trial.  Gideon appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court, which, in a unanimous decision, ruled that the right to counsel in a criminal case is fundamental to the American system of justice. 

More than 12 million people are arrested in the United States each year.  Fifty years after the landmark Gideon v. Wainwright case, most of them will be represented by one of the United States’ 15,000 public defenders.

An official selection of the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, GIDEON’S ARMY follows a group of idealistic young public defenders in the Deep South, where lawyers face particularly difficult challenges due to high bonds, minimum mandatory sentencing and a culture that is traditionally “tough on crime.”  Directed by fellow attorney Dawn Porter, GIDEON’S ARMY follows two young lawyers as they prepare their cases for trial.

The film premiered on HBO in July.  It has previously been featured at many prestigious film festivals including Sundanace and Tribeca.

Little Rock Look Forward: LR 9 Foundation establishes Clinton School Scholarship

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clinton-school-logoThough normally there are “Little Rock Look Back” posts, this one is truly more a look to the future.

Today the Little Rock Nine Foundation, which has awarded scholarships to deserving young people for the past 16 years, has set up a scholarship fund at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service to continue the foundation’s legacy. The Foundation was established in 1997 and since that time has awarded 60 college scholarships to high school students all over the United States.

“Because of our great appreciation for President Clinton, and in recognition of the extraordinary public service work performed by Clinton School students, we have now decided to make the Clinton School our educational philanthropic focus,” said Carlotta Walls Lanier, the foundation’s spokesperson. “The Clinton School prepares its students in the global arena and what better way to keep our story alive than through those we assist.”

Nine African American students–Lanier, Melba Pattillo Beals, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Terrence Roberts, Minnijean Brown Trickey, Thelma Mothershed Wair and the late Jefferson Thomas became known as the Little Rock Nine when they integrated  Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The resistance of Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus and protests by large groups of segregations forced the intervention of President Dwight Eisenhower who the sent the military’s finest, the 102 Airborne Division, to protect the students.

It was an historical moment and was the first the time the President of the United States sent the military to enforce a United States Supreme Court order, in this case the historic Brown v. The Board of Education decision.

“We are honored and are most grateful to the Little Rock Nine for the establishment of this scholarship fund,” said Clinton School Dean Skip Rutherford. “Over the years the Little Rock Nine–as a group and individually–have participated in Clinton School programs and met with our students. Spirit Trickey, the daughter of Minnijean Brown Trickey, is one of our graduates.”

The Clinton School is the nation’s first to offer a Master of Public Service (MPS) degree. It is located on the campus of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in downtown Little Rock.