How to Sue the Klan Film and Meet the Director – June 25, 7 – 8 pm
Waquoit Congregational Church will host a screening and filmmaker-led discussion of How to Sue the Klan, an award-winning film that highlights the courageous endeavors of five Black women who confronted the Ku Klux Klan in a groundbreaking 1982 civil trial, ultimately emerging victorious. The event is part of Movies That Matter, a screening and discussion series highlighting the role that faith and faith communities can play in responding to critical social concerns. Waquoit Congregational Church is located at 15 Parsons Lane, East Falmouth. The event is FREE and open to the public.
On April 19, 1980, four women were waiting for a cab on Chattanooga’s 9th St. when Ku Klux Klan members drove by and fired shotgun blasts from their car window. The gunfire wounded the four friends, and a fifth woman was struck by flying glass. In criminal court, an all-white jury acquitted two of the Klansmen and sentenced the third to just nine months.
Produced and directed by John Beder, How to Sue the Klan delves into the stunning victory of the civil case which was brought using the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act prohibiting organized hate crimes. Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, also a producer of the film, helps tell the moving story of the Chattanooga Five and Randolph McGlaughlin, the attorney who came up with the idea of using the post civil war act in their fight against injustice.
John Beder, a Tennessee filmmaker, whose parents are longtime Falmouth area residents, will lead the discussion after the film. Beder, an award winning filmmaker, uses cinema to highlight seemingly small local acts of courage: “Communities are the keeper of our stories and, too often, these stories of resistance against systematic oppression, racism, and violence are intentionally hidden or widely forgotten in our dominant cultural narrative.”
The event is part of Movies That Matter, a screening and discussion series highlighting the role that faith and faith communities can play in responding to critical social concerns. Waquoit Congregational Church is located at 15 Parsons Lane, East Falmouth. The event is FREE and open to the public. Popcorn and soda provided.
For more information, contact: 508-548-5269, waqoitucc@comcast.net or juliemgustafson@g
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