On Martin Luther King Day celebrate with the power of film at Jacob Burns Film Center

This Martin Luther King Day, celebrate with the power of film!

The Jacob Burns Film Center, a nonprofit cultural arts center and one of the most successful suburban film houses in the country in NY, will be screening the historic documentary about author and activist James Baldwin, Take This Hammer.

The documentary takes place in the spring of 1963, prolific author/activist James Baldwin sets out to assess “the real situation of Negroes in the city, as opposed to the image San Francisco would like to present.” Come with him as he meets with members of the African-American community, having a series of frank exchanges with people on the street and community leaders alike, listening and offering encouragement. By the end, Baldwin emphatically declares, “There is no moral distance…between the facts of life in San Francisco and the facts of life in Birmingham. Someone’s got to tell it like it is. And that’s where it’s at.”

JBFC will show the controversial original version, which includes 15 minutes of footage featuring scenes of young people, including Black Muslims, speaking about their lives and the police. Portions of this film were featured in the Academy Award-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro.

Jacob Burns Film Center, 364 Manville Rd, Pleasantville

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Submitted by Katonah, NY

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