This summer marks 60 years since "Freedom Summer", a movement which sent 1,000 volunteers, the vast majority of them college students from the North, down to Mississippi to register Black people to vote. The movement was met with massive resistance and violence from white residents and ultimately, three of the volunteers: James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were murdered. The publicity from the murders and the ensuing investigation revealed to the nation the terror that Black Mississippi residents had been enduring for generations. After "Freedom Summer", President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law in 1965.

The movement and its enduring impact proved fertile ground ripe for exploration and renowned documentary filmmaker STANLEY NELSON (of "Freedom Riders" and "The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution" fame) covered it in his 2014 film "Freedom Summer". The Sidebar host and producer KIZZY COX spoke to the three-time Emmy winner about the documentary, the current state of racial progress and politics plus how he’s opening doors for the next generation of filmmakers of color with his non-profit, Firelight Media.

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The opinions heard in this episode belong to the individuals who made them and not to NYABJ. Music by HoliznaRAPS. For more information on the New York Association of Black Journalists, please visit our website at www.nyabj.org.

Voices of Freedom: Stanley Nelson on the Impact of Freedom Summer

The Sidebar by NYABJ is a show about the world of media, through the lens of Black media-makers. 

Each episode will feature honest conversations with journalists, content creators, advocates, trailblazers  and new voices alike - talking about what it really takes to keep our communities informed and engaged. 

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The Sidebar is a production of the New York Association of Black Journalists (NYABJ), the Greater New York chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), the world’s largest organization for journalists of color. 

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New tracks tagged #Stanley Nelson