By Audra Schildhouse
The Bob and Aleicia Woodrick Center for Equity and Inclusion at Grand Rapids Community College will be showcasing the film “Memphis Majic,” along with a discussion with the director, Eddie Bailey, at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17 in the Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center auditorium, located at 151 Fountain St. NE.
During this event, the office’s new Diversity Lecture Pop-Up Series will be launched as well as the screening.
B. Afeni McNeely Cobham, GRCC’s chief equity and inclusion officer, said this event will attract new audiences.
“The traditional format of the Diversity Lecture Series will be retained,” McNeeley Cobham said. “But I have charged my team with developing nuanced ways to increase awareness and empathy about a myriad of issues related to systemic and institutionalized oppression.”
Lil Buck, an American dancer, actor and model who is an expert in the style of dance called jookin’, is featured in this film, mainly as an artistic representation on racism of black youth.
“Film Director Eddie Bailey inserts a missing puzzle piece into the history of hip-hop by playing homage to an urban dance that is the DNA of Memphis,” McNeely Cobham stated.
This educational event will showcase a mix of our modern day culture along with politics and the history of how one of the most important cities in America was built. Urban dance such as hip-hop is widely distributed throughout this screening.
The showing of “Memphis Majic” is free but organizers have asked those interested to confirm their seating by sending an RSVP online.
