Saturday, January 14th
Schomburg Center for
515 Malcolm X Boulevard
New York, NY 10037-1801
Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock tells the story of a seven-year journey by filmmaker Sharon La Cruise to try to unravel the life of a forgotten civil rights activist named Daisy Bates. In 1957, Bates became a household name when she fought for the right of nine black students to attend the all-white Central High School in Little Rock,Arkansas. Bates’ public support culminated in a constitutional crisis — pitting a president against a governor and a community against itself.
As head of the Arkansas NAACP, and protector of the nine students, Daisy Bates would achieve instant fame as the drama played out on national television and in newspapers around the world. But that fame would prove fleeting and for her attempts to remain relevant, she would pay a hefty price.
This documentary travels with Daisy Bates on her long and lonely walk from orphaned child to newspaper woman to national Civil Rights figure to her last days in Little Rock.
Bates’ journey, both her triumphs and defeats parallels the ongoing struggle of generations of African Americans who for more than 200 years have challenged America to live up to what it claims to be.
COMING TO PBS on Thursday, February 2, 2012
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