Hollins University is joining an effort led by Jefferson College of Health Sciences to bring together the communities from six Roanoke Valley higher education institutions and programs for a screening of the Academy Award® nominated film, Selma, on Tuesday, January 27.
Students, faculty, and staff from Jefferson College and Hollins as well as Ferrum College, Radford University’s DPT Program, Roanoke College, and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine are participating in the screening, which will take place at Roanoke’s Grandin Theatre.
The purpose of the event is to promote discussions in and among local college communities about equal rights and the need to continue to build “the beloved community” espoused by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The screening of the film serves to bridge the schools’ observances and celebrations of King’s birthday and Black History Month in February.
To give the audience context for the film and the time period in which it took place, a prescreening discussion will kick off the event at 5 p.m. The film will begin at 5:25 p.m. Following the screening, the audience will be invited to the Grandin Colab for conversation and reflection.
Nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Song Oscars, Selma tells the true story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1965 campaign to gain equal voting rights despite violent opposition. A march led by King from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, culminated in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the civil rights movement’s most important and enduring accomplishments.
