Coming to Terms with America’s Civil Rights Struggle: A Community Outreach Endeavor

Abstract

Conversations about race relations in the United States was and still is a subject that is difficult for many to discuss. In an effort to address this complex and vital issue at local levels, the National Endowment for the Humanities partnered with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History during the summer of 2013 to provide communities across the country the opportunity to discuss race in a more meaningful way. Out of this partnership the Created Equal project was born, offering successful grant writers the chance to screen four documentary films that illustrate how little or how much race relations have changed since the dawn of the civil rights movement.  The project required that recipient’s partner within the local community, with colleges and universities, and with civic groups to promote the films and facilitate conversations on race and race relations. The Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Library (NMBCCL) at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is one of the many applicants selected to receive the $1200 stipend and film collection.  This article highlights the challenges and opportunities we encountered here at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Library.