From Slavery to Freedom Film Series: “Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker”
Join the African American Program for a free virtual screening of “Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker.”
Presented as part of the From Slavery to Freedom Film Series, “Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker” focuses on civil rights activist Ella Baker who was one of the key organizers of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, an organization that used nonviolent direct action to fight racial segregation and discrimination in the 1960s.
She also served with Dr. Martin Luther King with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Prior to the 1960s, Baker served as the director of branches of the NAACP. Organizers affectionately referred to her as Fundi, which in Swahili means a person who passes skills from one generation to another.
Narrated by close friend Harry Belafonte, the documentary tells the story of Baker’s movement work in the 1960’s.
Following the screening, there will be a discussion with Joy James, author and Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College.
Admission
This virtual screening is free with advance registration.
About the Speaker
Joy James is Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College. She is the author of “Resisting State Violence,” “Shadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics,” Transcending the Talented Tenth” and “Seeking the Beloved Community.”
James has published numerous articles on political theory, police, prison and slavery abolition, radicalizing feminisms, diasporic anti-black racism, and United States politics.
Creator of the digital Harriet Tubman Literary Circle at UT Austin, James is editor of The New Abolitionists: (Neo)Slave Narratives and Contemporary Prison Writings; Imprisoned Intellectuals; Warfare in the American Homeland; The Angela Y. Davis Reader; and co-editor of the Black Feminist Reader. James’s most recent books include “ In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love” and “New Bones Abolition: Captive Maternal Agency and the Afterlife of Erica Garner.”