Closer to the Truth
For the past year I've been leading a project to use the film Greensboro: Closer to the Truth in an effort to support dialogue and deliberation about processes of reconciliation and healing as they relate from one community to the next. The film is about a 1979 clash between the Communist Workers Party and the Ku Klux Klan in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the first U.S.-based Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of its kind designed to address it. We have a limited number of DVDs that we are providing to groups/ organizations interested in racism, reconciliation, dialogue, stereotypes and other issues rasied by the film. We will provide a free copy of this DVD in exchange for hosting a screening of the film and small scale dialogue event using the guide we put together to accompany it.
The film is already being used in more comprehensive dialogue efforts in Dayton, Ohio to address police and community conflict; Chicago, Illinois in the Hull House Dinners Series on reconciliaton; Oakland to support youth leadership trainings; Mississippi, which plans to host its own TRC to address Civil Rights absuses; Maine, which will also be putting together a TRC to address foster care violations that continue to reverberate and impact the Wabanaki confederation; and Charlottesville, VA where they will be addressing racial reconciliation between the community and the University of Virginia, which was built by slave labor. Please see www.greensborothemovie.com for more information about the project and the Closer to the Truth initiative, as well as to access the Facilitation and Dialogue Guide which is available for download.
The non-profit I work for, Active Voice, is a team of strategic communications specialists that use story to promote and support dialogues about challenging issues. We work hard to reach audiences beyond the choir, producing materials and providing consultations on event planning, strategy, and framing/messaging to help organizations do just that and reach their objectives for positive social change.
If you are interested in hosting a screening of the film and receiving a free copy of the DVD and event planning support, please fill out the application by clicking here.
