For the ninth year in a row the Montclair History Center will be hosting The Price of Liberty, a film and discussion series on issues related to race, segregation, integration, and Civil Rights. This year’s 2024 series explores environmental justice sought for communities of people of color in the films Mann v. Ford (2011) produced by HBO and The Sacrifice Zone (2020) produced by Talking Eyes.
The Sacrifice Zone explores the Chemical Corridor of Newark, NJ located just down the road from schools and apartment buildings where Portuguese, Brazilian, Central American and African American residents live next to toxic substances. The film follows a group of environmental justice fighters determined to break the cycle of poor communities of color serving as dumping grounds for society.
Learn more about the film here: https://thesacrificezone.org/about.
Screenings and discussion will be led by scholars Leslie Wilson, PhD and Khemani Gibson, PhD.
The Sacrifice Zone will be screened on Thursday ,March 21 at 7 pm at Montclair Film’s Cinema 505 at 505 Bloomfield Ave, Montclair. Screenings will be available as a hybrid event for online participation through zoom and free to the public, registration required here.
About the Scholars
Leslie Wilson is a professor and associate dean in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Montclair State University. He works with the Teacher Education Program as the coordinator of social studies education and he teaches African, American and African American history. He specializes in 19th century Antebellum America, and modern urban history. Professor Wilson writes on a variety of subjects and often has editorial pieces published in NJ.com.
Khemani Gibson is a community organizer from Orange, NJ with a PhD from New York University in history with a focus on the African Diaspora. His research looks at issues of identity and community formation as well as conceptualizations of freedom and citizenship in the late-nineteenth and twentieth century Caribbean region. While committed to his work as an academic, Khemani is deeply committed to bridging the gap between the academy and marginalized communities.
The Price of Liberty series is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the Price of Liberty series do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.
