The College of Charleston’s School of Education, Health, and Human Performance and Avery Research Center have named Thursday, January 19, 2012 “Moving Beyond Prejudice Day” as part of activities surrounding Martin Luther King, Jr Day. The day will include screenings of the award-winning documentary Prom Night in Mississippi, featuring Morgan Freeman, and discussions with the film’s director, Paul Saltzman.  The film chronicles the perspective and experiences of Charleston (MS) High School students over a four-month period leading up to the school’s first integrated prom in 2008.

A free public screening and discussion with the director will be held at 5:30 p.m. in Physician’s Auditorium on the College of Charleston campus.  A private screening and discussion for Burke and Wando High School students will also be held.

Moving Beyond Prejudice Day is part of an ongoing series of events hosted by the College to bring awareness to critical issues in education. According to Dr. Reid Adams, professor of education and the event organizer, “Given the outstanding response and dialogue generated by last year’s screening of Race to the Nowhere, we’re excited to see how community members and students at Burke High School, Wando High School and the College of Charleston respond to this film.”

Recently screened at the White House, Prom Night in Mississippi debuted to rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009.  The film was directed by two-time Canadian Emmy Award winner Paul Saltzman, who has directed and produced numerous television shows and movies.  During the 1960’s, prior to his film-making career, Saltzman worked with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, spending time in Washington, D.C. lobbying for civil rights and working on voter registration in Mississippi.

Academy Award winning actor Morgan Freeman, a resident of Charleston, MS, offered to fund an integrated prom for the school in 1997 but was initially refused.  When he approached school officials again in 2008, they accepted.

For more information on Moving Beyond Prejudice Day, contact Dr. Reid Adams at 919.638.5618 or adamsrl@cofc.edu.