[homeles_ot-l] Minnijean Brown Trickey - Journey to Little Rock Screening - Sunday Nov. 4, National Art Gallery on Sussex / Surprise honour planned

[Bill Dare]

"Little Rock Nine" civil rights pioneer Minnijean Brown Trickey
returns to Ottawa for a benefit screening of Journey to Little Rock at
the National Gallery of Canada, and a surprise special honour by the
Ottawa's Mayor and Chief of Police

Minnijean Brown-Trickey, an original member of the "Little Rock Nine",
will return to Ottawa this weekend for a benefit screening of Journey
to Little Rock: The Untold Story of Minnijean Brown Trickey, and a
surprise special honour to be presented by the Ottawa's Mayor and
Chief of Police. Ms. Brown Trickey will be in the nation's capital to
help kick off the annual Crime Prevention Week.

This exciting line up of events will take place from November 3-5,
2007. Event sponsors include the Ottawa Police Service, North-East
Pictures, the Somali Youth Basketball League, and a number of other
Ottawa groups.

On Saturday November 3rd, Ms. Brown Trickey will meet with the Somali
Youth Basketball League at Lisgar High School in anticipation of their
benefit film screening. With sheer determination, this league has been
a success for minority and low-income youth. This benefit screening
will support their plans to hold an invitational tournament next
summer in honour of the Little Rock Nine.

Following this, North-East Pictures is proud to announce the public
screening of Journey to Little Rock which will take place on Sunday,
November 4th at the National Gallery of Canada. The screening will
feature a conversation with Adrian Harewood, Host, CBC Radio's All in
a Day. Suggested ticket price is $10, and all donations are welcome.

 Ottawa's Crime Prevention Week will commence on Monday, November 5th,
and Ms. Brown Trickey will be present to kick off the festivities. At
the same time, Ottawa's Mayor and Chief of Police will present Brown
Trickey with a special honour, which is being kept a secret from her
until the time of presentation. The presentation will take place at
Ben Franklin Place from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Directed by Rob Thompson and produced by Maria Yongmee Shin, Journey
to Little Rock tells the story of Minnijean Brown Trickey, a Canadian
social activist and one of the Little Rock Nine civil rights pioneers.
It is the winner of the top audience awards at the Sprockets Toronto
International Film Festival (Best Feature) and at the Oscar-qualifying
Chicago International Children's Film Festival (Best of Fest). It was
also the first documentary to win these prestigious audience awards
over dramas and animations. Now, Journey to Little Rock is being used
to reach out to young people about non-violence.

 September 25, 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock
school desegregation crisis.


 Minnijean Brown Trickey and the other members of the Little Rock Nine
were honoured at a series of commemoration events leading up to a
fundraising gala for the Little Rock Nine Foundation's Scholarship
Fund chaired by former President Bill Clinton, and a ceremony in front
of the Central High School where the "Nine" members all spoke publicly
for the first time before a mesmerized crowd, with President Clinton
and the presidential candidate Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton looking
on.

 Ten years earlier in 1997, President Clinton had spoken stirringly
during the 40th commemoration ceremony as the sitting president and
the first to apologize to the "Nine" for the humiliations and the
abuses they, their families and their community endured in
1957.Journey to Little Rock captures the events of the 40th
commemoration and the White House ceremony where Clinton awarded the
Little Rock Nine with the Congressional Gold Medal - the only film to
document this historic event and an important presidential speech on
civil rights and race relations in many years.For Minnijean Brown
Trickey, Little Rock was only the first step in an amazing journey of
the heart, mind and spirit. The film traces her remarkable life as a
life-long activist who never lost the courage of her convictions –
from the move to Canada with her white husband during the Vietnam War,
the fight to save the Temagami forest and supporting Aboriginal
rights, to becoming an organic farmer and raising six children. It
also reveals the painful periods through her divorce, the Toronto
police beating of her son Isaiah, and her bittersweet return to the
United States. Currently, Brown Trickey is working on her memoir Mixed
Blessings and speaking to audiences, particularly young people, across
North America. She is a consultant on education and race relations
matters and makes regular appearances in the media, including CNN,
CBC, NPR and others. Her story continues to receive extensive media
coverage on TV, radio, print and the Internet. -30-
 For more information and graphics, please visit:
<http://www.journeytolittlerock.com/> www.journeytolittlerock.com
<http://www.minnijean.zonehere.com/> www.minnijean.zonehere.com


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