Posted March 3, 2017
MacArthur genius filmmaker Stanley Nelson Jr. will highlight the fourth biennial Media and Civil Rights History Symposium at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, March 30-April 1.
Nelson is a civil rights documentarian of the triple Emmy Award-winning "Freedom Riders" (2011), "The Black Press: Soldiers without Swords" (1998), "The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution" (2015), and "Tell Them We Are Rising," an upcoming work on historically black colleges and universities that includes South Carolina colleges.
In addition to his speaking engagements at the symposium, Nelson will participate in several other events which are open to the public.
On Wednesday, March 29, Nelson will preview his latest documentary, “Tell Them We are Rising,” a documentary on historically black colleges and universities that will be released later this year. The film includes WIS-TV news footage of Allen and Benedict universities, which is part of the university’s Moving Images and Research Collection. The screening will take place at 7 p.m. at the Nickelodeon theater. General admission tickets, which cost $10, can be purchased at the theater or on its website.
On Thursday, March 30, Laura Kissel, a professor of film and media arts, will discuss Nelson’s films with him at noon in Lumpkin Auditorium, located on the eighth floor of the Close-Hipp building. Stanley Nelson is a visiting artist in the School of Visual Art and Design. The session is free and open to the public.
Nelson will make a public presentation from 7-9 p.m. Friday, March 31, at the historic Booker T. Washington High School Auditorium, located at 1400 Wheat St. The presentation will include excerpts from two of his documentaries, followed by a dialogue with the acclaimed filmmaker. It is free and open to the public.
Nelson’s visit will mark the culmination of an ongoing film series of his works sponsored by the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, USC’s History Center, the Film and Media Studies program, the South Carolina Humanities Council and the Center for Civil Rights History and Research.
The Media and Civil Rights History Symposium brings together civil rights and media historians to share historical knowledge on the vital relationships between civil rights and various types of public communication, especially journalism. It is presented in partnership with the Center for Civil Rights History and Research, Moving Images Research Collection, the African American Studies program and The History Center.