It Happened!  During the 11 o’clock hour in each time zone, the nation was “UNDIVIDED.”  Dr. King notated that Sunday mornings at 11 o’clock was the most segregated hour of the week. BUT NO LONGER!  

 THE CHANGE HAS COME- This year, millions are engaging in- “Prayers of Thanksgiving to God for the Pioneer Keepers of the Faith… Prayers for Today’s Keepers of the Faith… and Prayers of Unity, Oneness and Love for the Next Generation of Dreamers, Visionaries and Innovators.”  ON MLK Holiday 2012- God Released “UNDIVIDED” and we will continue to be so- not only on this day but in perpetual engagement.  Check here daily for constant updates and happenings. 

MOST RECENTLY at TCAA

Dec. 13, 2011

Last year, Arkansas’ Cosmetology, Health and Beauty Professionals took a front seat at a special film screening and Holiday Salute honoring a member of their profession who was a foot soldier of the civil rights movement. 

A few months before Barack Obama became America's first black president, San Francisco filmmaker Robin Fryday went to Birmingham to shoot a documentary about the everyday heroes of the civil rights movement and to get their thoughts on Obama's historic election. Soon after she arrived, Fryday was told she had to meet James Armstrong. "Somebody asked me if I had met the barber, so I took a trip to his shop and met Mr. Armstrong," Fryday recalls. "I spent many hours with him, listening to his stories of his involvement in the movement." Among them were key moments when Dr. King sat in his barber’s chair.  

Two and a half years later, Fryday's film, "The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement," debuted back in Birmingham for a red-carpet, black-tie-optional screening at the Alabama Theatre. Over 2,000 people attended.  On Tuesday, December 13, 2011, after many awards and significant moments, the film makes a special stop for an Arkansas Premiere at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

Providentially, while Fryday was in Birmingham, Arthur L. Hunt, Jr., CEO at The College of  Aspiring Artists, (TCAA) was producing another documentary in Arkansas- a documentary about Dr. King’s final “prophecy to promise” fulfillment. Hunt is producer of the first three years of national tributes to the King Holiday from Memphis honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fryday and Hunt share a common mission to educate through documentaries.

 “TCAA is honored to host Robin Fryday and Shirley Gavin Floyd as they come to screen the film, present a forum on the impact of filmmaking, the creative economy, cosmetology, civil rights and cultural advancement. While her film features a barber from Birmingham, it captures a true account of many in this profession in Arkansas who pioneer(ed) this same spirit of courage, creativity and entrepreneurial success.  Spotlight moments with the Arkansas DC Tour Bus delegation who attended the Dr. MLK Memorial Dedication and a sneak-preview of 2012 King Holiday and Diversity Projects are also included,” Hunt conveyed.

Happening Now:   www.barberofbirmingham.com
"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement."
Where: Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 501 W. 9^th  Little Rock, AR 72201
When: Tuesday, December 13, 2011    5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. 
Admission: (free with ticket) Locations- Mosaic Templars &  Beauty/Barber Salon Partners
Updates: The College of Aspiring Artists/KABF 88.3 FM www.feelthemovement.net 
Holiday Salute/Reception: (VIP)  A  post screening special holiday reception honoring many Arkansans from the Cosmetology, Health and Beauty industry. 
Film Credits/Background

THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM 

Acclaimed short subject documentary follows an African American barber and civil rights movement foot soldier in Birmingham, Alabama, who experiences the fulfillment of an unimaginable dream: the election of the first African American president

Synopsis: Mr. James Armstrong is a rank and file "foot soldier" and the proud proprietor of Armstrong’s barbershop, a cultural and political hub in Birmingham, Alabama, where hair was cut (including Martin Luther King, Jr.'s), civil rights marches organized and battle scars from police truncheons iced. This film follows 85-year-old Mr. Armstrong, as he experiences the manifestation of an unimaginable dream: the election of the first African American president. This courageous and visionary activist of the Civil Rights era casts his vote, celebrates Obama's victory and proudly unfurls the American flag he carried across the Edmund Pettus Bridge as he is inducted into the Foot Soldiers Hall of Fame. Mr. Armstrong links the magnitude of the present paradigm shift with challenges he faced in the past: from his sons' integration into an all white school to the Bloody Sunday march for voting rights.

About the Filmmakers

A Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prizewinner and Academy Award–nominated documentarian for Daughter from Danang (2002), Gail Dolgin had linked her commitment to justice with her love for filmmaking since the 1960s and chose Mr. Armstrong’s story knowing, after years of battling breast cancer, it would be the last one she told. Dolgin passed away in October 2010. Inspired by the story of the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement, and realizing the need to capture this historical election on film, northern California–based photographer Robin Fryday went to Alabama and decided it was time to make movingpictures move. Her collaboration with Gail Dolgin launched the film about the barber she had met in Birmingham. This is Fryday’s first film.

Shirley Gavin Floyd - Historical Researcher, Civil Rights Activist Committee, Birmingham, Alabama.  Shirley was responsible for interviewing and publishing factual stories of the Foot Soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement for over 11 years.  She spearheaded the Birmingham Premiere of The Barber of Birmingham at the Historic Alabama Theatre to an audience of 2,017 which included the Governor of Alabama, Mayor of Birmingham, State Representative and many of the Foot Soldiers.  

About Chicken & Egg Pictures

Chicken & Egg Pictures is a hybrid film fund and non-profit production company dedicated to supporting women filmmakers who are as passionate about the craft of storytelling as they are about the social justice, environmental and human rights issues they’re embracing, translating and exploring on film. For more information visit http://www.chickeneggpics.org/.

Since its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in January, the film has been screened at more than a dozen film festivals around the nation and at the Library of Congress and on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. 

To view news clips about the film from CNN, MSNBC, and others, please click here:  http://barberofbirmingham.com/press/. The trailer for the film can be viewed here.