20080104 “The Rosa Parks Story” to be shown at the Carroll Arts Center January 21, 2008

“The Rosa Parks Story” to be shown at the Carroll Arts Center January 21, 2008

MEDIA RELEASE January 4, 2008 Posted January 12, 2008

For more information contact: Sandy Oxx Sandyoxx1 AT earthlink.net or 410/848-7272

“The Rosa Parks Story” at the Carroll Arts Center

The Carroll County Arts Council continues its annual tradition of honoring the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King with a day of family activities. On Monday, January 21, the Arts Center will host two free screenings of the made-for-tv movie “The Rosa Parks Story,” at 10:30 am and 2 pm. The 2002 film stars Academy Award nominee Angela Basset as Rosa McCauley Parks.

Parks, who was raised in the Deep South in the days of Jim Crow, when “separate but equal” was the law, but not a reality. Even at an early age, she refused to believe that she was inferior to anyone. Rosa is forced to cope with many degrading and humiliating situations, particularly a failed attempt at registering to vote.

She later goes on to work as a secretary at the NAACP and on their behalf, raises many questions on the position of Black people in society.

In 1955 she created the spark that ignited the modern Civil Rights Movement when, after a long day’s work, she took the only available seat in the first row of the bus. When the driver demanded that the Black passengers clear the row for a White woman, Rosa refused to comply. The resulting uproar in the South throws Rosa and her family into the Ku Klux Klan’s ring of hatred, but also into the NAACP’s limelight.

This compelling true story demonstrates the power a single act of defiance can have over an ancient tradition of injustice.

The film is Not Rated and runs 94 minutes.

From noon to 2 pm that day, youngsters and the parents are invited to attend a drop-in art workshop where together they can create a masterpiece inspired by the legendary words of Dr. King, “I have a dream……” Workshop leaders are Mahlia Joyce and Jose Flores.

For more information about the free events, call 410/848-7272 or visit www.carr.org/arts. The Carroll Arts Center is located at 91 W. Main Street in downtown Westminster.