The Long Ride by Valerie Lapin Ganley is our opening film and will be playing at the Washington Ethical Society at 2 PM on Saturday, October 27.
This feature-length documentary is a timely film about the historic 2003 Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride that sparked the new Civil Rights Movement for immigrant workers in the United States.
Alarmed by increasing abuse of immigrants in the workplace, more than 900 immigrants and allies traveled across America to focus public attention on the plight of immigrant workers and to call for reform of the broken immigration system. They were inspired by the 1961 Civil Rights Movement Freedom Riders who risked their lives fighting to end segregation. The film chronicles their journey and the on-going fight for immigrant rights to this day. With Freedom Riders as our navigators, the film puts a human face on this controversial issue and examines the human costs as lawmakers consider overhaul of the U.S. immigration system.
From Director Valerie Lapin Ganley, who will be in attendance to answer questions after the screening:
“In 2013, the Senate passed Comprehensive Immigration Reform. I thought the dream of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride would soon be fulfilled. I set out to make an historical film about social movement building and how to achieve social justice goals. But Tea Party Republicans in the House prevailed and convinced the Republican leaders to prevent the bill from coming up for a vote.
Then Donald Trump ran and became president on a platform of hatred, bigotry, misogyny and xenophobia. Although the journey just got longer, the work of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride continues. Instead of being an historical document, The Long Ride now serves as a blueprint for how to move forward in these troubling times.
As original Freedom Rider John Lewis told us: “Hang in there. Keep the faith. Walk with the spirit of the Freedom Riders and ride with the spirit of the Freedom Riders of 1961. And generations from now another group will say the Freedom Riders of 2003 left a page. They left a map. They left a road. Because our struggle is not a struggle that lasts for one day or one week or one year, our struggle is the struggle of a lifetime.”
Tickets available September 1, 2018