"This film should be mandatory in school curriculums everywhere." ~ Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree
"This film should be mandatory in school curriculums everywhere."
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ABOUT THE FILM
Leveling Lincoln
To level the playing field, they leveled the school
Kids across America are still suffering the effects of harmful "separate but equal" education, despite the clear advantages of integration.
- in 2019 The NY Times reported that "a (recent) plan to desegregate schools in a liberal Maryland suburb founded on values of tolerance has met with stiff resistance."
- A recent study by Stanford University's Center for Education Policy Analysis found that "the desegregation efforts of the late 1960s and early 1970s did not last; public schools today remain highly segregated both by race and class" and that "racial segregation appears to be harmful because it concentrates minority students in high-poverty schools, which are, on average, less effective than lower-poverty schools".
To see our way to the future we need only look at the past --
Leveling Lincoln explores the history behind the landmark 1961 desegregation case of Taylor vs. Board of Education of New Rochelle, NY where an entire elementary school had to be torn down to achieve a level playing field in education. The case, the first of its kind in the North (seven years after Brown vs. The Board of Education), was praised on the floor of the United States Senate as an example of successful integration by peaceful protest, discourse, and jurisprudence. In its wake New Rochelle emerged as a flourishing multi-cultural community and serves as a model for how to achieve educational parity for all our children.
In contrast to the Ruby Bridges or the Linda Brown stories in the South, the New Rochelle case had hundreds of children bused to schools without calling out the National Guard. All because of a group of dedicated parents who took action. They knew their children were being given an inferior education in a city that prided itself on its diverse school population. And they did something about it.
Each interviewee was asked:
- “When did you become aware of race or racial inequality?”
- “Did the busing work?”
- “What happened to the Lincoln neighborhood after the school was demolished?”
- “Do you still think it was the right thing to do?”
We flash back through photos and documents as they speak about their parents, teachers and classmates, and reflect on being part of a social experiment that began on their first days of kindergarten, after the implementation of state sponsored busing. They reflect upon their own children and grandchildren as they worry for their future.
It's also a story of how a community came together at the grassroots level to reject the accepted de facto segregation of their town (due to red-lining) and recognize how its history of privilege made them blind to systemic inequality.
It's a story of historical national importance that attracted the attention of figures like Thurgood Marshall and CBS' Mike Wallace.
Ultimately, we analyze the problems and solutions that the New Rochelle School District dealt with and glean what lessons can be learned and applied to today's equally challenging educational issues.
Directed and Produced by Arden Teresa Lewis of AT LEWIS Films. Produced in association with Tinks Lovelace of BAG O' BONES Collective.
OUR PARTNERS
NEWS
SEED AND SPARK campaign came to a successful conclusion on Oct 16th, 2020!
NEWS
So proud to be a Finalist in the Fall 2020 Roy W. Dean Film Grants.
Thank you From the Heart Productions for this honor. See our listing at the following link. Keep your fingers crossed for us! https://fromtheheartproductions.com/2020-fall-grant-finalists/
THANK YOU
Thank you to all our incredible donors so far!
List of Donors:
2018 Go Fund Me Drive in order of receipt!
Liane Paap
Kim Palumbo
Sharon Berman
Eva Teirstein Young
Calvin Whitfield
Casey Williams
MLE
Neal Boornazian
Heather Argenio
Rachel Kabasakalian McKay
Steve & Anne Oto
Pat Rind
Ellen Woolf Feichtner
Annette Williams
Gil Garcia
Carin Greenberg
Deanne Mencher
Veanne Cox
Anonymous
Janet Domenitz
Leslie Caveny
Soni Wright
June Jaffee
Cathy Chiappa
Jeff Jones
Craig and Karen Lewis
Louise Robynn Vaughn
Phillip McKinley
Claudia Dreifus-Pesce
Garry Kluger
Karen Ragan-George
Heidi Siesfeld
Amy Simon
Toni Pepe
Jocelyn Kenner
Lynne Barasch
Debra Adler
John Etra
John Mount
Gloria Lovece
Linda Rand (RIP)
Eileen Fitzgerald
James L. Fisher
Barbara Loewentheil Murray
Shae Popovich
Cathy and John Cygan (RIP)
Alice Rogoff
Yadira Ramos-Herbert
Amy Moselhi
David Peters
Lorraine Danza
Betsy Krebs
Bonnie Dukes
Sheila Brown
Maray Ayres
Michelle Higgs
Kelly Lester
Nina White
Penny Angelotti
Jennifer Ball
William Mullen
Paul Francis
Cathy Lind Hayes
Spike Dolomite Ward
Anne and Bill Leyden
Sheryl Eldredge
SEED AND SPARK
We raised $22, 385.83 in October 2020!
We also added so many supporters. Forever grateful for the support of our growing community helping to save this story for history.
Community Supporters
Lincoln Park Conservancy
Jim Beaver
Mark Wilding
Tim and Elizabeth Lewis
Karen and Craig Lewis (RIP)
Leonard Lewis
Anonymous
Paul Zuber
Joy Levy
Russell J Handelman
Paul Francis
Team supporters
Betty Iwerks
Patrice Washington
Ann Lewis
Kern Lewis
Yadira Ramos-Herbert
Rita Shor
Laura Rosenthal
Gordon A. Letter
Tombo - Tom. - Allard
Anthony W. Battelle
Helene Levy
Jean Himmelstein
Laura Olson
Joanne Fernandez
Nina White
Liane Paap
Kathleen A. Woods
Louise Vaughn
Valerie Kapilow
The Kenner Family
Lisa Lee "The Echo Parker"
Candace Pinn
Michelle & Michael Chiklis
Lisa Maccarley
Barbara Davis
Bonnie MacBird
D E Goodenough
Dennis & Maureen Franks
Robert H Palmer
Mary Ternoey
Phillip McKinley
Bob Boden
Raymond M. Grant III
Sally Hallada
Linda Pace Alexander
Nick Musleh
Jim DeSimone
Rebecca Rabitoy
The Kluger Family
Valerie Gardner
Hirout Dagnew
Patricia Brooker
Sheila Camacho
Wendie and Bud Kroll
Wendy Ross
Ellen Woolf Feichtner
John and Marchand Erickson
Renée Vaca
Diane Remin
Sandra S. Wright
David Dean
Lulu Leszczynski and Lex Passaris
Mark Lester
Lisa Nance Ventura
Clara Longstreth
Kevin J. Colligan
Joe Alona & Harrison
Andrea Appell
Rita
Rachel Freedman
Eva Teirstein Young
Gustavo A. Barbosa
Jim Negri
Bill Barnert
David Marlin
Cheryl Bonacci
Alan Schack
Jeff Rack
Jodie Cooper
Team Taylor
Doug Haverty
Barbara & Lloyd Schwartz
Karen Ragan-George
Kimberly Garsed
Mark Lewis
John Mount
Jennifer Mount
Wendy Bridges
Judy Race
Rachel Kabasakalian-McKay
Lisa Sachs Baum
Elizabeth Mogan Rossbore
Janice Goreman Weiss
Darryl Chris Wood
Angela Green
Sharon Davis
Keira Wesley
Andrea Edson
Suzanne M. Collins
Alison Regan
Niki Lambro
Mara oof
Jean Glaude
Michael Liu
Sharon Goalder
Elizabeth V. Getter
Richard DeLigter
Lorraine Fox
Paul Parsekian
Jim Dewey
Rita Cofield
Michael Koetting
Robin Friedman
Leah Sills
Leesah A Freed
Ted Meyer
Susan Y Yuhas
Elizabeth Virani
Mimi Kmet & Mara Wells
Leonie Kramer
Sally Meadows
Cindi Leonard
Carol Gallo
Pam Mayerfeld and Richard Hallsted
Beth Lewellen
Emelie Smith Calbick
Sue Boyle
Megan Hensley
Pat Rind
Matthew Brezina
Jill Jones
Anne and Bill Leyden
Glenn Rosenblum
Scott and Mark Neisser
Wendy Berger Ross
Meredith Rossborough
D Parker
Anne Gorfinkel
George Tovar
Kim Palumbo
Linda A Strong
Chris DiGiovanni
Heather Keller
Rachelle Conger
Tomothy A. Loranger
Diana L. Jenkins
Bonnie Dukes
Carl Behrend
Amy Stromberg
Andrea Savada
Wendi Washington
Chris Zirbel
Michelle Higgs
Cynthia Hood
Alisa Terell Starbird
Christina Park
Leslie M. McSparran
Gwyn Schneck
Patricia Bethune
Seri De Young
Colleen Anderson
Paul Gunning
Corinne Shor
Amy Jan Simon
Harrison Engle
Joan Bergman
Lauralee Farrar
Shannon Lovgren
Makiko Takenaka
Adrienne Jones
Paul Millet
Paul J. Read
Sarah Jonas
James R. York and Tisha York
Alison Regan
America Young
June Schreiner
Amanda Garcia
Zander
Jean Himmelstein
Timothy C Idoni
Kathryn Atterberry
H Dowling-Jones
Roger W. Krakow Jr.
Daniel Pomerantz
Eileen Fitzgerald
Donna M. Jackson
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