Event

The Mississippi Truth Project hosted a series of screenings of Greensboro: Closer to the Truth across the state to help familiarize Steering Committee members with the TRC process and get community members thinking about it and next steps. The screenings were held in North Mississippi, South Central Mississippi, and the Gulf Coast region. Executive Director, Dr. Susan Glisson explained that “after watching the film, the viewers were more accepting of the creation of a Truth Commission in Mississippi. It gave them a better understanding in [sic] what will go into creating the commission and what a commission will look like and what it will do.” One participant explained that the screening “helped me as a community organizer to engage more community people in the conversation.” Another participant exclaimed after another local screening: “there weren’t too many people on the ground running and still they were able to do such great work; we can do it too!” One of the local Commission organizers related the film to Mississippi:

“For our community the truth process could uncover secrets and relieve them of their power and empower the people. It could be the process that really sets us on the road to an inclusive freedom, a new place that is inclusive of all facets of the truth, the good, the bad and the ugly, a return of humanity, and the knowledge that we are the people we have been waiting for to demonstrate courage and compassion.”

The positive reaction to the film and clarity in understanding the process really helped them to garner local support for the Truth Commission.