In 1967, the Supreme Court famously ruled that “Marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence and survival.” In doing so, the Court rejected Virginia’s anti-miscegenation statute as unconstitutional, thus ending all race-based restrictions on marriage across the United States. Like most landmark rulings, the story behind Loving vs. Virginia is not just about the legal issues, it’s also about the people who were affected and how they fought to get justice. On Wednesday, you can hear that amazing story.
The Maine Jewish Film Festival, in association with the University of Maine School of Law, will present a free screening of the award-winning documentary film The Loving Story at USM in Portland. A special one-day-only screening will also take place in Waterville at Railroad Square Cinema that same evening.
The film tells the story of Mildred and Richard Loving, the interracial couple who fought along with the ACLU to take their case to the Supreme Court and set up the historic ruling in Loving vs. Virginia. (Watch the trailer here.) The Portland showing will begin with a reception in the Abromson Center at USM at 5:00pm, and the film will screen from 6:15 - 7:30 followed by a panel discussion. The reception and screening in Portland are free and open to the public, although tickets are required. The Waterville showing is at 7:00pm, though tickets must be purchased.
If you can’t make it to one of the two screenings on Wednesday but you still want to learn more about civil liberties, you may also consider a different event on Thursday. At SPACE Gallery in Portland, we’ll be co-presenting a talk by Nermeen Shaikh, a broadcast news producer and weekly co-host at Democracy Now! in New York City. Her talk, titled “Violence as Salvation: Questions in the Face of Benevolent Power,” will address contemporary news events like Syria and the NSA, as well as examples from other forms of storytelling to demonstrate how questions over the use of power can persistently be raised even, or perhaps especially, when they may appear unnecessary, futile or hopeless.
If you have questions about any of these events, feel free to call us at 774-5444 for more information.
