Local writers read Pensacola perspectives, 1930 to 1965
Area residents will read personal narratives describing “Black Life in Northwest Florida: 1930-1965” in a free Viva Florida 500 event, Sunday, November 24 from 2-4 p.m. at the downtown Pensacola branch of the West Florida Library.
The program divides the thirty-five year period into three sections: Living Black, Surviving Jim Crow and Remembering the Movement. In the first segment, longtime Pensacola residents describe growing up in different neighborhoods, from East Brent to the Navy Yard. Filmmaker Robin Reshard will show a clip from her documentary on Belmont and DeVilliers. Other authors include Mamie Hixon, Ora Wills, Ida Coleman and Georgia Smith. Roz Fisher will read Diane Gaines Jackson’s account of “The Tan Yard,” Demeturis Hale reads Debra Ellick’s personal narrative, and Delaine Wright will read Claudette Chapman’s “Uprooted.”
In Surviving Jim Crow, Jack Beverly reads James Chadwick’s “City Bus,” Shirley Stanley reads “Accused,” Charlie Davis reads “Carter,” and Jacqueline Parker reads Dr. Maria Mickens’ “Movie Interrupted.” Pensacolians Remember the Movement includes two interview readings, Demeturis Hale on William Marshall and Roz Fisher on Horace Edward Harrison
The afternoon’s program ends on a lighter note with two humorous pieces Laugh Lines, which includes Jim Henderson reading Pelvo White’s “Hollin’” and Michele Stiffin reading “The Mourner.”
Ora Wills, who orchestrated the program, says she hopes the readings offer perspective on “the surprising diversity in some Pensacola neighborhoods; that it shows how citizens coped with and endured some of the negative aspects of Jim Crow, and explains how the civil rights movement unfolded locally.
The event, which is part of a yearblong series of Viva Florida 500 events sponsored by West Florida Literary Federation and the African American Heritage Society, also features dancers from “Art in Motion: Industrious Women” interpreting the paintings of Sonja Griffin Evans.
The event is free and open to the public. The library is located at 239 N. Spring, Pensacola. For more information visit http://wflf.org
Posted by North Santa Rosa
on Nov 6 2013. Filed under Happenings, Local.
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