The truth behind “Bloody Lowndes”.
The passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 represented not the culmination of the Civil Rights Movement, but the beginning of a new, crucial chapter. Nowhere was this next battle better epitomized than in Lowndes County, Alabama, a rural, impoverished town with a vicious history of racist terrorism. In a town that was eighty percent Black but had zero Black voters, laws were just paper without power. This isn’t a story of hope but of action. Through first person accounts and searing archival footage, Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power tells the story of the local movement and young Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizers who fought not just for voting rights, but for Black Power in Lowndes County.
Impact
The campaign made the story of Lowndes County activists available in classrooms throughout America, securing the film’s adoption into English and history curricula for grades 6-12 in the Long Beach Unified School District and creating a module for universities and professors to use in teaching the Lowndes County story.
Understanding that the Lowndes County story could serve as a blueprint for grassroots organizing, the campaign supported the impact work of local groups across the US via film screenings and panel discussions, which served as catalysts and launch points for community initiatives. Such efforts included Harness’ Voter Registration Initiative, Faith in Texas’ environmental justice work, Long Beach’s equity in education initiative, and Blue Zone’s Black Lives coalition.
Participant sparked new awareness of Lowndes County during Black History Month by partnering with creator Garrison Hayes to produce a four-part series that highlighted key moments, themes, and interviews in the film, quickly accumulating 1.6M views, 372K engagements, and 1.2M accounts reached around the globe.
Credits
- Directors
- Sam Pollard, Geeta Gandbhir
- Writer
- Dema Paxton Fofang
- Producers
- Dema Paxton Fofang, Jessica Devaney, Anya Rous
- Executive Producers
- Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Fred Grinstein, Linzee Troubh
- Composer
- Kathryn Bostic
