Virtual film series explores civil rights struggles
Three documentaries tell stories of Antonia Pantoja, Fannie Lou Hammer, Emmet Till
The Civil Rights struggle of the 20th century will be explored through three historical figures — voting rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer, Puerto Rican activist Antonia Pantoja and teen murder victim Emmet Till — in a virtual documentary series at the University of St. Joseph. Films screen online on three consecutive Thursdays: April 8, 15 and 22 at 7 p.m.
Each screening is followed by a panel discussion. The series is curated by USJ faculty members Pablo Correa (director of Digital Media and Communication degree program) and Anthony De Jesús (assistant professor of Social Work and Equitable Community Practice) along with Steven Raider-Ginsburg, director of the Autorino performing arts center.
Correa is a filmmaker himself. He worked on two of the films in the series, “Fannie Lou Hamer’s America” and “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till.”
“Fannie Lou Hamer’s America” screens April 8 It tells the story of the activist who founded the Freedom Democratic Party and rallied support for the Voting Rights Act in the mid-1960s. (The Voting Rights Act is in the news again due to attempts to change voting laws in many states.) The film was produced by Hamer’s niece, investigative reporter Monica Land. Panelists in the discussion include the film’s director Joy Davenport, Correa, Voices of Women of Color founder Janice Flemming-Butler,
State Sen. Marilyn Moore, Hamden Legislative Council member Justin Farmer and moderator Christiana Best of
through her life.”
The documentary came together quickly. Fisher was able to include an original song, “Presence of a Legend,” by singer/songwriter and transgender activist Shea Diamond.
Allen’s memoir is still underway, with a different writer. “Charm,” a play based on Allen (with her name changed to ‘Darleena Andrews’), was produced in 2017 at New York City’s MCC Theater, starring transgender actor Sandra Caldwell. These projects and Fisher’s “Mama Gloria” all sprang from that same 2012 Chicago Tribune article.
Allen is best known for creating a charm school and etiquette classes for homeless transgender youth through the LGBTQ community institution the Center on Halsted in Chicago in 2009. Allen no longer runs the charm school, and was in her 60s when she started it, so “Mama Gloria” has a lot more of Gloria Allen’s life to cover as well.
“She transitioned before Stonewall,” Fisher says. “She lived openly. She came out of the Black drag scene. She was always open to the future. For all the success she has had, there are still people who have never heard of Gloria Allen.”
A trailer and more information about “Mama Gloria,” which has screened at numerous film festivals, is at mamagloria film.com.