Christ Church, the Easton Diversity and Inclusion Task Force and the Easton Public Library are pleased to announce the viewing of the third documentary in their Racial Justice Film Series. “Home From School: The Children of Carlisle” will be screened on Thursday, April 13 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Easton Public Library. The viewing and entire film series is free and open to all.
“We’ve been pleased by the passion of attendees for learning more and taking action on these important topics,” said Library Director Lynn Zaffino. “We hope still more will join us for this April 13 film viewing as well as the next and final film in this series on May 11.”
U.S. government-run boarding schools of the 19th and 20th centuries were specifically designed to assimilate tens of thousands of native children to adopt white identifies, to learn and speak only English, and to renounce all aspects of their indigenous culture and traditions and were often rife with abuse, illness, and hardship for indigenous children in some instances leading to their deaths. This film documents the attempts of present-day tribal members to recover the bodies of three Northern Arapaho boys who died at the Carlisle Industrial School, and to find healing from the scars left behind.
The Rev. Dr. Mary Crist, enrolled Blackfeet (Amskapi Pikuni) from the Douglas family in Babb on the Montana reservation, will virtually lead a conversation after the film. Crist is a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and the Indigenous Theological Education Coordinator for the Episcopal Church USA.
“Our guest the Rev. Dr. Mary Crist will remind us, as the film will, of the lasting impact of our nation’s history of racial injustice on the indigenous peoples of these lands and share her perspective on how together to seek a more just future,” said Christ Church’s Priest-in-Charge Rev. Ally Brundige.
Whendi Cook Broderick, co-chair of the Easton Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, said task force seeks to explore such topics with the community through film and dialogue.
“Conversation led by our guest Mary Crist offers us all the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of this little-known stain on our nation’s history and to build connections with all peoples,” said Broderick.
For more information, contact Lynn Zaffino at lzaffino@eastonlibrary.org or Rev. Ally Brundige at reverendallyb@gmail.com. To register for the film series click here.
