Archived press releases

MSWord    Printer-friendly version

Public Encouraged to Attend Poignant Community Forums on Race and Diversity

April 27, 2004

For More Information:

E. Anne Wilder, WPT community outreach manager, (608) 265-9092 or wilder@wpt.org

Lynn Brockmeyer, WPT publicist, (608) 263-3364 or brockmeyer@wpt.org

Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) and the Urban League of Greater Madison have partnered again in 2004 to offer a series of free film screenings and facilitated discussions to the greater Madison community that focus on the inequities of race and diversity in the community. Each of the stirring documentary films is intended to spark meaningful discussion in a way that other catalysts don't. The public is encouraged to attend, view the film and join in the discussion that follows. Spanish interpretation is available at the event.

'We are proud to be working with the Urban League to address this crucial topic in Dane County,' said E. Anne Wilder, WPT community outreach manager. 'Feedback from last year's series was extremely powerful. Attendees told us that the events challenged and educated them and that they would continue taking positive steps in their personal lives.'

The first film screening, America Beyond the Color Line With Henry Louis Gates Jr. 'Chicago Streets of Heaven,' and discussion forum will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 6 at the Catholic Multicultural Center 1862 Beld Street in Madison.

In the film, Gates goes inside the notorious housing projects in Chicago's South Side -- the Robert Taylor and the Ida B. Wells -- to find out from the people who live there what life is like for America's underclass. 'What happened to the city of refuge my father's generation sought in the North, North where the streets of Heaven were paved with gold?' wonders Gates. Caught up in a culture of criminality, poverty and despair, is there any hope for the fifth of black Americans who have been left behind?

For more information on the event, phone (608) 265-9092, e-mail outreach @wpt.org or visit wpt.org on the Web.

Major funding for the Community Forums on Race and Diversity is provided in part by Alliant Energy, Dean Health System and St. Marys Hospital Medical. Additional funding is provided in part by the Madison Community Fund.

In 2004, WPT celebrates 50 years of service to Wisconsin individuals and families. WHA-TV, Madison, signed on the air on May 3, 1954.

WPT is a service of the Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Extension.

Wisconsin Public Television is a place to grow through learning on WHA-TV/DT, Madison; WPNE-TV/DT, Green Bay; WHRM-TV/DT, Wausau; WLEF-TV/DT; WLEF-TV/DT, Park Falls; WHLA-TV/DT, La Crosse; and WHWC-TV/DT, Menomonie-Eau Claire.