Prom Night in Mississippi was screened on Tuesday at the Momentum Conference in San Francisco. It’s a good movie because it is so thought-provoking. After you see it, you and your friends will definitely still be talking about it.
The documentary focused on the town of Charleston, Mississippi. In 1954 Charleston High School was asked to desegregate, but school officials didn't take immediate action. Instead, it took the school another 16 years to open its doors to black students. Years later, there was still one tradition they weren’t willing to change-- prom. The school continued to hold two separate proms, one for black students and another for white students.
In 1997, Academy Award-winner and Charleston resident Morgan Freeman, made an offer to the local school board. He said he would pay for the prom under one condition—that the prom was integrated. His offer was denied.
Ten years later filmmaker Paul Saltzman follows Freeman as he revisits the school board and presents his offer again. This time the board accepts and Prom Night in Mississippi begins.
The film follows Charleston High School seniors as they prepare for one of their most memorable high school events while facing many racial challenges. In the film we meet a bi-racial couple who struggle to show their affection in public because of what their white and black friends may think. As if that wasn’t enough, they have to stand up against their own parents’ racial beliefs.
We are also introduced to Chasidy Buckley—a young black student who earned the highest GPA in the school, but was denied the title of valedictorian because of the color of her skin.
Listen to what Buckley and 20-year-old Jessica Shivers, had to say about their school and the film.
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