March on Washington Film Festival Shares Civil Rights Topics with Students, Provides Professional Development Opportunities for Educators
(Washington, D.C.) - September 17, 2021 — The March on Washington Film Festival, devoted to telling the stories of civil rights heroes as well as foot soldiers, has launched a national effort that shares the Festival’s films and panels as an educational resource. The Festival also provided professional development opportunities for educators nationwide.
MOWFF partnered with educational consultants, SquadBuck, and two educational membership organizations to provide webinars focused on this year’s Festival theme of environmental justice, including how to engage students with the films and panels and ways to leverage inquiry to teach environmental justice.
On September 14, MOWFF partnered with the American Federation of Teachers’ Share My Lesson to produce the webinar entitled “A Single Garment of Destiny: Teaching the Intersection of Race, Justice, and Climate with the March on Washington Film Festival.” It featured MOWFF Artistic Director Isisara Bey and Squadbuck consultant Kristina Ishmael discussing the definition of environmental justice and engaging ways it can be taught. Educators earned professional development credits for attending.
On September 16, MOWFF partnered with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to produce a webinar as part of their Core Connections series and discuss the theme for this year’s Festival, “A Single Garment of Destiny: Civil Rights and Environmental Justice.” Educators learned about environmental justice and ways to introduce and teach the topic in classrooms.
“The degree to which many have gone to prevent Americans from knowing the facts of our history is astonishing,” says Isisara Bey, Artistic Director, regarding the recent bill in Texas limiting teaching critical race theory. “Our nation’s founding principles uphold freedom and self-determination, yet the institution of slavery and the practice of racism are deviations from those principals that this country continues to tolerate and uphold. This festival remains committed to revealing the contradictions in our words and deeds, and to uplift the stories of those who give their lives in the service of justice for all.”
The 2021 March on Washington Film Festival runs from September 30th - October 4th in Washington D.C. and will be comprising both in-person and virtual events. View the event lineup and purchase your tickets today.
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The March on Washington Film Festival increases awareness of the untold events and unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Era and inspires renewed passion for activism. The Film Festival leverages the power of film, first person accounts, scholarship, and the arts to share these important stories. It was founded in 2013, on the 50th anniversary of the original March on Washington.
Media Contacts:
BA Snyder Emily Seeley
Veritas Group Sunshine Sachs
512.630.6337 415.517.7507
BA@TheVeritasWay.com MOWFF@SunshineSachs.com