St. Paul – The Rebellious Life of Rosa Parks Film Screening

Join us for a screening of The Rebellious Life of Rosa Parks, featuring a discussion after the film moderated by Kevin Lindsey.

Jeanne Theoharis’s book was brought to life in June 2022 as a feature documentary that delves deep into civil rights icon Rosa Parks’ historic work and her role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Through interviews with those who knew her, powerful archival footage and her own words, the film tells the story of Parks’ extensive organizing, radical politics and lifelong dedication to activism. Directors: Johanna Hamilton, Yoruba Richen. Editor: Èlia Gasull Balada

About the book:

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks blows away the myths we learned about the “tired seamstress” who gave up her seat on the bus. The only thing she was tired of was injustice.

Parks had an amazing life of activism going back to the 1930s, beginning with her concern about the Scottsboro Nine through the struggle in the South, and her work with Myles Horton at the Highlander Folk School, the bus boycott in Montgomery and then to Detroit where she lived more than half her life. She worked with the left, communists, socialists, the anti-war and black power movements, and had great admiration and respect for Malcolm X and Robert Williams.

Whatever we think we know about Rosa Parks, there is far more we do not know and will learn from this work. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks is a must for teachers, parents, and grandparents, to undo the damaging myths that essentially began and ended her political life on December 1, 1955, frozen in time as Dr. King was on August 28, 1963. Most Americans are unaware of their anti-war and anti-capitalist views.

About Dr. Josie R. Johnson

Josie Robinson Johnson is an American community organizer and activist for African American rights. Described by the Minneapolis Star Tribune as the “First Lady of Minnesota Civil Rights,” she was instrumental in the success of a fair housing bill in Minnesota in 1962.

Dr. Josie Johnson continues to fight for and protect voting rights for Black Minnesotans. She often speaks of her efforts as building upon her ancestors’ struggles for freedom and civil rights. In Minneapolis, she worked as a community organizer for the Urban League and was active in the League of Women Voters, eventually becoming the first Black national board member.

In the national movement for civil rights, Johnson was in the official Minnesota delegation at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Through the Wednesdays in Mississippi movement, she traveled to Mississippi to support efforts for racial justice, despite the possibility of retaliation from the Ku Klux Klan.

As a lobbyist, Johnson supported a fair housing bill by gathering evidence of housing discrimination affecting Black Minnesotans. She also played an integral role in the effort to pass the bill establishing the Fair Employment Practices Commission.

Johnson has always prioritized education. She founded the Junior Service League, a mentoring program that connected Black girls in junior high with professional Black women. At the University of Minnesota, she was the first Black woman on the Board of Regents and worked to create the African American Studies Program.

Registration

This event is free, but registration is required.

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