For the ninth year in a row the Montclair History Center will be hosting The Price of Liberty, a film and discussion series on issues related to race, segregation, integration, and Civil Rights. This year’s 2024 series explores environmental justice sought for communities of people of color in the films Mann v. Ford (2011) produced by HBO and The Sacrifice Zone (2020) produced by Talking Eyes.
One of the worst environmental disasters in the United States is located just 19 miles from New York City. This toxic Superfund site is at the former home of the Ford Motor Plant in Mahwah, NJ, which was the country's largest car factory when it opened in 1955. Thousands of cars were produced over the following decades, along with a mountain of toxic paint sludge, which was dumped on the nearby lands of the Ramapough Lenape Nation community. This film tells the story of Wayne Mann, Chief of the Turtle Clan in 2011, who stands up to Ford. MANN v. FORD follows a community's mission to clean up the toxic byproduct of the American Dream, and to seek justice for themselves and their families.
Thoughtful discussion with producer/director of Mann v. Ford Micah Fink will be led by scholars Leslie Wilson, PhD and Khemani Gibson, PhD.
Mann v Ford will be screened on Thursday, February 22 at 7 pm at Montclair Film’s Cinema 505 at 505 Bloomfield Ave, Montclair. Screenings will be available as a hybrid event for online participation through zoom and free to the public, registration required here.
About Micah Fink
Director Micah Fink is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. His work has appeared on PBS, HBO, National Geographic Television, CNN and other venues, and has been recognized with three Emmy nominations, two Cine Golden Eagle Awards, two Signal Awards, and multiple best picture awards at film festivals around the world. He was a Rosalynn Carter Fellow for Mental Health Journalism & Media in 2022-2023. He is the founder of Common Good Productions and teaches at the MFA Program in Social Documentary Film at the School for Visual Arts in NYC. He is currently working on a documentary film about the deadly terrorist attack at the Tops Supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
About the Scholars
Leslie Wilson is a professor and associate dean in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Montclair State University. He works with the Teacher Education Program as the coordinator of social studies education and he teaches African, American and African American history. He specializes in 19th century Antebellum America, and modern urban history. Professor Wilson writes on a variety of subjects and often has editorial pieces published in NJ.com.
Khemani Gibson is a community organizer from Orange, NJ with a PhD from New York University in history with a focus on the African Diaspora. His research looks at issues of identity and community formation as well as conceptualizations of freedom and citizenship in the late-nineteenth and twentieth century Caribbean region. While committed to his work as an academic, Khemani is deeply committed to bridging the gap between the academy and marginalized communities.
The Price of Liberty series is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the Price of Liberty series do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.
