About the Campaign
The Closer to the Truth Project uses Adam Zucker's film, Greensboro: Closer to the Truth to support local reconciliation and justice efforts in communities across the United States. Working closely with grassroots groups and academic institutions on carefully crafted strategic events, the film will become a catalyst for reflection about how the past is linked to the present, and what it might take to heal old wounds.
The film documents the first ever Truth and Reconciliation Commission of its kind held in the United States 25 years after what is now known as “The Greensboro Massacre,” a violent episode in the nation’s history. On November 3, 1979, a caravan of white supremacists confronted and fired on demonstrators preparing for a “Death to the Klan” rally in an African American neighborhood in Greensboro, North Carolina. The work of the Commission culminated in a series of public hearings in 2005 to help the community come to terms with this tragic history that continues to have an impact today. The film provides an opportunity for viewers to witness — through the testimonies of survivors, elected officials and restorative justice practitioners — the process one community went through to revisit an unresolved history.
Opportunities and Objectives
By helping to make the connections between local histories and modern concerns, Active Voice will use Greensboro: Closer to the Truth to:
- Deepen the work of social justice organizations by creating platforms for dialogue.
- Encourage the examination of histories that impact the present.
- Foster civic participation.
- Support conflict resolution.
Depending on the circumstances in each Closer to the Truth community, local efforts may focus on law enforcement and local community tensions, identity-based conflicts and marginalization, economic disenfranchisement, ineffective and/or violent conflict-resolution methodologies and more.
Project Activities
- Community events, planning support, and facilitation guidance — tailored to community needs and histories — that generate lively and productive dialogues about truth, justice and reconciliation.
- An expanded website to build alliances and foster peer learning, featuring detailed updates on the activities and outcomes of each Closer to the Truth community partner.
- Introductions to the Bridges Transitions model, a framework that can be useful in helping individuals and communities resisting change to identify their fears and other obstacles and more effectively transition to a place where justice is possible.
- Do-it-yourself screenings that any organization can host using the facilitation guide and discussion questions developed for the film and available on the website.