Norton to Speak at March on Washington Film Festival Kick-Off Event, Tonight
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), an organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, will speak at a film screening and subsequent panel discussion of the women leaders of the civil rights era as part of the first night of the March on Washington Film Festival today, Wednesday, July 15, 2015, at 7:00 p.m. at the Historic Metropolitan A.M.E. Church (1518 M St. NW). The film being screened, "This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer," is a documentary short chronicling the life of Hamer, who became a friend and mentor of Norton's when Norton was a law student registering voters in the Mississippi Delta as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Hamer rose from being an impoverished sharecropper to becoming a powerhouse in the battle for the right to vote in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. The March on Washington Film Festival, now in its third year, strives to increase awareness of the events and heroes of the civil rights era and inspire renewed passion for activism. This year's festival runs through July 25th.
"The Civil Rights Movement occurred pre-feminism, but it is time we celebrated the extraordinary women who were central to the movement," Norton said. "None were more courageous than Fannie Lou Hamer, and I have yet to see her equal in rallying a crowd to move forward in the face of danger. The March on Washington Film Festival has shown it recognizes the importance of Ms. Hamer's contributions by making this film of her life the first film to be screened at the festival."