Feb. 2-23: Bunche Center celebrates Black History Month

Courtesy of Jack Willis

In "Lay My Burden Down," filmmaker Jack Willis shows what happened to black sharecroppers and tenant farmers in the rural South, who were forced off the land and into tent cities in Alabama and Mississippi in the wake of the civil rights movement and the Voting Rights Act.

The Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA is hosting a series of events held in honor of Black History Month. On Feb. 2 , a screening and discussion will feature films by UCLA alumnus Jsack Willis, who has written and filmed many award-winning social and Cultural documentaries. Among them is "Lay My Burden Down" (1966). The film captures the plight of black sharecroppers and tenant farmers in the rural South, who were forced off the land and into tent cities in Alabama and Mississippi in the wake of the civil rights movement and the Voting Rights Act. Also being screened is Willis' "The Streets of Greenwood."

Currently based in New York, Willis will join the event remotely.

Here's a lineup of Black History Month events hosted by the Bunche Center:

Thursday, Feb. 2, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Haines Hall 153 // Jack Willis film screening and discussion;
Thursday, Feb. 9, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Haines Hall 153 // "The Revival: Women and the Word" Film Screening
Thursday, Feb. 16, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Haines Hall 153 // "Blaxploitalian 100 Years of Blackness in Italian Cinema" film screening and discussion with the Filmmaker, Fred Kudjo Kuwornu
Thursday, Feb. 23, from 12 noon to 1 p.m. at Haines Hall 153 // Release of the 2017 Hollywood Diversity Report

All events are free and open to the public.. See this website for details.

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