For more information: Teri L Sullivan
WKNO Promotions Manager
901-729-8735
tlsullivan@wkno.org
November 11, 2010
For Immediate Release
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE ANNOUNCES MAJOR OUTREACH CAMPAIGN
FOR STANLEY NELSON’S “FREEDOM RIDERS”
PREMIERING MAY 2011 ON WKNO/CHANNEL 10
— Students Will Be Selected to Travel with Original Freedom Riders to Retrace
Historic Bus Route on “2011 Student Freedom Ride” —
PBS’s American Experience, America’s most-watched history series, recently announced the launch of the 2011 Student Freedom Ride, a journey retracing the historic civil rights bus rides that changed America. Accompanied by original Freedom Riders, forty college students will be chosen to participate in the bus ride which will take place beginning May 6 - 16, 2011 in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the original rides.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for college students committed to learning from history and applying those lessons today, the ride is also a catalyst for a national conversation about the role of civic engagement today. The 2011 Student Freedom Ride is the centerpiece of a major outreach campaign leading up to the May 2011 WKNO/Channel 10 broadcast of Stanley Nelson’s acclaimed film Freedom Riders, the powerful and inspirational story of the more than 400 black and white men and women who, using nonviolent tactics, risked their lives to challenge segregated facilities in the South in 1961. Applications are being accepted through January 17, 2011 and can be accessed at http://www.pbs.org/freedomriders.
Kicking off in Washington, DC with a major public event that will gather many who were involved in the original Rides, the 2011 Student Freedom Ride will roll through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi, stopping along the way at historically significant locations. The students will spend time with original Freedom Riders who will share their memories of this bold and dangerous experiment in the fight for equal rights. Students will also meet with today’s leaders in civic engagement.
Says director Stanley Nelson, “We hope that the film and the ride will inspire young people to see that the past was made up of courageous, ordinary people who were able to make great changes. One of the things that the film shows is that success was not inevitable and only came from perseverance. And sometimes to do any great thing, it’s important that we step out alone.”
“Freedom Riders tells the story of an overlooked piece of not only civil rights history but American history,” says Mark Samels, Executive Producer of American Experience. “It’s a story that we knew had to be told. The film touches and inspires everyone who sees it and it’s an honor to be presenting it.”
American Experience is seeking college students from a broad range of backgrounds who will lend diverse voices to the journey. Students will be encouraged to share their experiences and must be eager to learn from their peers, from pioneers in the civil rights movement, and from today’s civic leaders. Students should have strong written communication skills and a commitment to civic engagement.
The 2011 Student Freedom Ride will provide these students with an opportunity to take part in an inter-generational conversation about the very idea of civic engagement. What form does civic engagement take today? What has changed since 1961? What would inspire today’s students to “get on the bus?”
A moving digital media platform, the 2011 Student Freedom Ride will facilitate the students’ use of both social and traditional media to share their experiences, bringing others along on their journey, and encouraging their friends and classmates to think more seriously about civic activism and the role that it plays in a thriving democracy.
Freedom Riders Online
The first comprehensive online resource for information on this pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement, Freedom Riders online is an invaluable resource for information about the 1961 Freedom Rides. The Freedom Riders website offers students, teachers and the general public an interactive site to explore this event and more meaningfully engage in the content and the role of civic engagement in the shaping of society. In addition to a stream of the full film, the site will offer twelve original short films, a fully animated map of the Rides, an interactive roster of the 436 original Riders, nearly two hours of video that illustrates the people, issues and timeline of the Freedom Rides, the application for the 2011 STUDENT FREEDOM RIDE, and daily dispatches from the ride in May 2011.
Freedom Riders in the Classroom
American Experience has partnered with Facing History and Ourselves, an international educational and professional development organization, to create comprehensive Freedom Riders curriculum materials that will be distributed to high school classrooms nationwide. Through a combination of in-person and online workshops, Facing History will train more than 650 teachers to use Freedom Riders in the classroom, and will present the film and curriculum at multiple educational conferences across the country.
Curriculum materials will be available in February 2011. Educator trainings will begin locally in Fall, 2011. American Experience is also working with Teachers’ Domain to develop digital resources for middle and high school students and educators that will enhance the use of Freedom Riders in the classroom.
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An important community resource, WKNO uses the power of non-commercial public broadcasting to provide the Mid-South with quality educational and cultural programs that inform, entertain, and inspire. For more information: wkno.org.
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