‘Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America’ Documentary Will Be Presented Online by Montgomery County Office of Human Rights on Tuesday, Dec. 6

For Immediate Release: Friday, December 2, 2022

Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America will be presented in a free online showing presented by the Montgomery County Office of Human Rights at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 6. The documentary feature film was written by former ACLU Deputy Legal Director Jeffery Robinson and was directed by Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler. Mr. Robinson will be available after the special showing to discuss the movie and answer questions.

To register for the special viewing, go to https://www.filmplatform.net/events-signup/emailregistration/?id=142344. The invitation code, which is case-sensitive and contains a single dash, is WWA-MCHR. Using the link, click “Register” and enter an email address and the event invitation code. If participants have trouble registering, they should go to the FAQ section within the screening room page.

In addition to the special presentation, the film will be available overall for a limited period from 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 6, through 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8.

Who We Are . . . is an impactful film that inspired the County’s Office of Human Rights and the Human Rights Commission to arrange the special presentation.

The murder of George Floyd and the ensuing swell of protests across the U.S. forced a reckoning, not just with police brutality against Black Americans, but also with the history of slavery and anti-Black racism in America. Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America confronts that history.

Mr. Robinson, who attended Marquette University and Harvard Law School, has been a trial lawyer for more than 40 years. In 2011, Mr. Robinson began raising his then 13-year-old nephew and struggled with what to tell his son about racism in America. Mr. Robinson was 11 when the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in Robinson’s hometown of Memphis, Tenn. He marched with his father and brother in one of the Memphis sanitation worker strikes. Mr. Robinson also attended a court hearing for some of those arrested for marching. He traces that experience to why he became a criminal defense lawyer.

After many years as a practicing lawyer, Mr. Robinson started looking at the nation’s history. He said he was shocked by how deeply encoded White supremacy and the oppression of Black Americans is in that history. For the past 10 years, in community centers, concert halls, houses of worship and conference rooms across America, Mr. Robinson has been sharing what he learned.

Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America interweaves historical and present-day archival footage, Mr. Robinson’s personal story and interview footage capturing his meetings with Black change-makers and eye witnesses. The film brings history to life with a wide range of video including a hanging tree in Charleston, S.C., a walking tour of the origins of slavery in colonial New York and a 1947 lynching in rural Alabama.

For more information about the presentation, contact James Stowe, director of the County Office of Human Rights, at james.stowe@montgomerycountymd.gov.

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Release ID: 22-605
Media Contact: Neil H. Greenberger 240-205-1915
Categories: Education