When 14-year-old Emmett Till was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, he could have just have been another statistic in the segregated South under Jim Crow. But his mother decided the world would be made to see what her son had suffered and her actions galvanised the Civil Rights movement. A new film, 18 years in … Continue reading “Telling the Story of Emmett Till”
Over a long career Faith Ringgold has used her art to support civil rights for African Americans and feminist causes. The first retrospective of her work in France makes the message clear through its title “Black is Beautiful”. Ringgold was born in 1930 in Harlem and grew up surrounded by the art, literature and music … Continue reading “Faith Ringgold: Black Art Matters”
You may have never heard his name before, but you’ll never forget it after watching this film or even just the trailer for Till, written and directed by Chinonye Chukwu. These B1 activities explore the heart-wrenching story of 14-year-old Emmett Till who was lynched for misjudging Jim Crow conventions in the 1950s segregated American South. … Continue reading “Emmett Till”
Festival America is usually a bi-annual celebration of the literature of the Americas in Vincennes (94). After two years of COVID cancellations, the festival is finally having its 10th edition celebrating 20 years from 22 to 25 September. The festival attracts large numbers of authors: 61 this year, mainly from the U.S. but also from … Continue reading “Festival America is Back!”
Colin in Black and White is a new Netflix mini-series directed by Ava Duvernay. It’s ostensibly the story of Kaepernick’s high- school years, before he became an NFL Star and started his “take a knee” protests. In fact it’s a sort of manifesto with the older Kaepernick using his younger self to illustrate how he … Continue reading “Colin Kaepernick: Birth of an Activist”
England’s football players have been taking the knee at Euro 2020 to protest against racism but one in particular has been standing up for Britain’s poorest children. Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has been campaigning for the astonishing 20% of English* children who qualify for free school meals, one of the indicators of poverty in … Continue reading “Marcus Rashford: Football Against Food Poverty”
A quick rundown on Euro 2020 in six essential questions. When? 11 June to 11 July 2021. Where? In 11 cities around Europe: Amsterdam (Netherlands), Baku (Azerbaijan), Bilbao (Spain), Bucharest (Romania), Budapest (Hungary), Copenhagen (Denmark), Glasgow (Scotland), London (England), Munich (Germany), Rome (Italy), Saint Petersburg (Russia). The semi-finals and final will be at Wembley Stadium in … Continue reading “Euro 2020 in Six Questions”
In our series of author videos presenting different chapters of Shine Bright AMC, here is File 5 Black Lives Matter, presented by its authors Lynda Itouchène and Laura Pires. This file fits into the Première theme Représentations Axe 1 Faire entendre sa voix : représentation et participation. You can browse this file and all the … Continue reading “Shine Bright AMC File 5 Black Lives Matter”
The jury in the trial over the death of George Floyd has found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all three charges: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Floyd’s family and supporters expressed relief. The court found that it was Chauvin’s actions – kneeling on Floyd for more than nine minutes during … Continue reading “Police Officer Convicted of Murdering George Floyd”
The Black Lives Matter movement has been awarded Sweden’s Olof Palme civil-rights prize, and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The Olof Palme Prize was created in memory of the Swedish Prime minister and human-rights advocate who was assassinated in 1986. Its jury noted that although Black Lives Matter was founded in 2013, … Continue reading “Black Lives Matter Honoured”