COMMUNITY CINEMA SCREENS A NEW FILM ABOUT UNSUNG HERO OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT WITH

THE POWERBROKER: WHITNEY YOUNG’S FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

(Grand Junction)--Community Cinema is a documentary screening series presented by Rocky Mountain PBS and sponsored on the Western Slope by Chevron, Mesa County Public Libraries, Talon Wine Brands and KAFM 88.1 Community Radio. This month Community Cinema presents a screening of The Powerbroker. Narrated by Alfre Woodard, The Powerbroker is executive produced by Young’s niece, Emmy® Award-winning journalist Bonnie Boswell and produced by Ms. Boswell, her son Taylor Hamilton, and Christine Khalafian.

During the 1960s, as the executive director of the National Urban League, Young was one of the few African Americans who had the ears of those who controlled the levers of power: Fortune 500 CEOs, governors, senators, and presidents. He used these relationships to gain better access to employment, education, housing, and healthcare for African Americans, other minorities, and those in need. His unique position and approach earned him praise, but also scorn from the Black Power movement for being too close to the white establishment. While he is less known today than other leaders of the era because of the behind-the-scenes nature of his work, Young’s legacy and influence are still felt profoundly.

Ten years in the making, The Powerbroker is both a personal portrait of Young, drawing on the reflections of family members and never-before-seen home movies, personal photographs, and audio recordings, and a historical chronicle of how he applied the social service mission of the Urban League to realize the rhetoric of the Civil Rights movement. The film features rare archival footage and exclusive interviews with a diverse array of people who worked with Young and who have been shaped by his work, including the late Dorothy Height, Pulitzer Prize winner Manning Marable, John Hope Franklin, Ossie Davis, and Howard Zinn, as well as Julian Bond, Vernon Jordan, John Lewis, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Young’s biographer Dennis C. Dickerson, Donald Rumsfeld, Ramsey Clark, and others.

Where: Room 111, Academic Classroom Building, Colorado Mesa University, Wednesday, February 20, 2013. This is a new location for the 2012-2013 Community Cinema Season. The Academic Classroom Building is located near the intersection of Elm and Cannell Avenues with plenty of free parking.

When: 6:30pm reception, 7pm screening

· Free admission

· Sponsored by Chevron, Mesa County Public Libraries, Talon Wine Brands and KAFM 88.1 Community Radio

· For more information: visit www.rmpbs.org/cinema

· For additional information about Community Cinema, visit: www.communitycinema.org

Discussion Panelists: Harry Butler and moderator Gretchen Reist Henderson.

Rocky Mountain PBS

Each week, nearly 900,000 people throughout Colorado turn to Rocky Mountain PBS to discover inspiring local, national and international programming; find diverse viewpoints; score front row center seats to world-class performances; and experience lifelong learning opportunities.

Rocky Mountain PBS celebrates its 56th anniversary on the air this year. The network began in Denver in 1956 as Colorado’s first public television station. It is now Colorado’s only statewide television network, with stations in Denver (KRMA), Pueblo/Colorado Springs (KTSC), Steamboat Springs (KRMZ), Grand Junction (KRMJ) and Durango (KRMU). To learn more, visit rmpbs.org