Einstein Offers Martin Luther King, Jr., Movie Nights
The office of the dean, the Einstein Council for Diversity & Inclusion, and human resources are co-sponsoring three successive evenings of films to celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King is known as a proponent of peaceful protest and for his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, in which he envisioned a time when his own children, descendants of slaves, could join with the descendants of former slave owners to breach the unfortunate decision of our nation’s founders, allowing slavery to endure in a land where its countrymen had fought for their own freedom from tyranny.
“The films we’ve selected offer insights into African American achievement in spite of challenges presented by segregation, at the effects that prejudice and racism have had and continues to have in our society, and into the historic fight for civil rights that moved our nation toward greater opportunity for people of color 50 years ago,” said Yvonne Ramirez, vice president of human resources at Einstein. “They also remind us that, as far as we’ve come, we still can and must do better. It’s something our council for diversity & inclusion seeks to do so that we can more fully honor the philosophy under which our institution was established – a medical school that would accept gifted students regardless of their race, religion, gender, or creed.”
Hidden Figures will be shown on Tuesday, January 22; Crash on Wednesday, January 23; and Selma on Thursday, January 24, 2019. Each film will be screened in the seating area along Forchheimer’s Main Street, beginning at 5:15 p.m. Snacks and refreshments will be provided.
To further recognize Reverend King’s vision and inspiring words, be sure to view outtakes from his famous speech that will begin playing on our new campus monitors on his birthday, Tuesday, January 15. “You’ll hear lesser known passages that we think inspire reflection on how far we’ve come and have far we still have yet to go,” said Ms. Ramirez.
For more information, please visit http://einstein.yu.edu/diversity/. You can also Share Your Dreams.
About the Movies
Hidden Figures tells the story of a team of female African-American mathematicians, known as human computers, who played vital roles in the early years of NASA’s space program. These remarkable women overcame obstacles of gender and race while crossing professional lines thanks to their brilliance and desire to dream big.
Crash offers a look at the close encounters of an assortment of characters whose meeting occurs through “crashes” that lead to clashes, which reveal the prejudice and resentment that different groups have toward one another.
Selma relates the story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s historic struggle to secure voting rights for all. It highlights the dangers he and others faced throughout, culminating with the epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, which ultimately led President Lyndon B. Johnson to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Posted on: Monday, January 14, 2019