MURFREESBORO– The inaugural Created Equal: TN Legacy Series film screening and discussion will feature the film Green Book, a 2018 biographical drama set in the 1960s, and the documentary Freedom Riders, which chronicled efforts to desegregate public accommodations throughout the South in the 1960s.

In partnership with the MTSU Intercultural and Diversity Affairs Center and the Washington Family Foundation, Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Department will host the Black History Month events Feb. 12 and Feb 26 at The Washington Theatre in the Patterson Park Community Center, 521 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Both events are free and open to the public. Reservations are not required.

The first screening, featuring Green Book, begins at noon Saturday, Feb. 12, with Leroy Cunningham facilitating a question-and-answer period immediately after the film. Questions will be taken from the audience.

The 2019 Best Picture Oscar winner depicts a friendship that develops between an Italian-American driver tasked with chauffeuring an acclaimed black pianist on his concert tour through the South. The real Green Book was published from 1936 to 1966 by Victor Hugo Green, a New York city mailman, as a travel guide intended to help African American motorists navigate social obstacles during the Jim Crow era. The only stop in Murfreesboro was a tourist home that was along State Street near Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center.



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“Anyone who has followed my tenure as mayor, knows that I believe in open discussion of civic and cultural issues, said Mayor Shane McFarland.  “On behalf of the City Council, I strongly encourage citizens to participate in the Created Equal film discussions to better understand the past and inform the present.  We appreciate the Washington Family Foundation and the MTSU Intercultural and Diversity Center, along with Bradley Museum and Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation for cultivating this discussion in our community.”

The second film and discussion, the documentary Freedom Riders, begins at noon Saturday, Feb. 26, in Patterson’s Washington Theatre with Carolyn Lester leading the discussion after the film viewing.

“This event was created to bridge the intergenerational gap that we noticed in programming across the city,” said Vonchelle Stembridge, Facility Coordinator of Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center. “Our vision is to unify, educate and cultivate a community to discuss and analyze films with a diverse range of people spanning different ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, and races.”