The Moral Movies Film Series got off to a great start last month with screenings of the Teacher Salary Project’s American Teacher. Hundreds of people turned out across North Carolina to witness, discuss, and take action in response to the struggles on screen and those faced by public school teachers every day in a state ranked 46th in the country in teacher pay. The screenings were timed just as shocking teacher turnover numbers were released in the wake of a legislative assault on public education.
It wasn’t hard for audiences to make the connection between the film to the challenges educators in N.C.are dealing with. After the screenings they composed postcards for state legislators and signed up for the Tar Heel Alliance for Classroom Teachers’ action network.
Moral Movies will continue this month with screenings of American Winter, which follows eight families struggling in the wake of America’s Great Recession and reveals the devastating human impact of rising economic inequality, a shrinking social safety net, and the fracturing of the American Dream.
The NC AFL-CIO will co-present this month’s round of screenings. Communications Director and Operations Manager, Jeremy Sprinkle says, “Many working families in North Carolina will be able to relate to the powerful stories of personal loss and struggle told in American Winter because the devastating and long-lasting effects of the recession continue to be felt here. It may be springtime on the calendar, but for all those who are now falling into poverty, it still feels like our economy and policymakers have left them in the cold. We hope American Winter opens people’s eyes to the new faces of poverty in America, which increasingly include those of well-educated and once middle-class working families. Only by working together can we build an economy that works for all of us.”
American Winter will screen May 29th in seven cities across North Carolina, more details below:
Asheville: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place. Asheville, NC 28801
Charlotte: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm
NCAE, 301 S McDowell ST. Suite 1200, Charlotte, NC 18204 Parking is available in the lot beside the building and your parking pass will be validated once you come upstairs
Wilmington: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm
Hannah Block Community Arts Center, 120 S 2nd St. Wilmington, NC 28401
Raleigh: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm
Kenan Hall at William Peace University, 15 E Peace St. Raleigh, NC
Durham: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm
Full Frame Theater in the center of the American Tobacco Campus, 320 Blackwell St. Durham, NC 27701
Greensboro: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm
Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate St. Greensboro, NC 27412
Greenville: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm
Lucille W. Gorham Intergenerational Community Ctr. 1100 Ward St. Greenville, NC 27834
