This is a story about a group of Southern activists based in North Carolina who helped turn a national tragedy into an opportunity to take a stand for social justice.

On the fateful evening of June 17th 2015, Dylan Roof entered Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina. During a routine Wednesday night Bible study, he proceeded to open fire in the historic African-American church killing nine people in cold blood. The day after this tragic incident, flags all over South Carolina were lowered to half-mast to honor the dead. All except for one glaring exception: The Confederate Flag standing in front of the South Carolina State House in Columbia was still perched at the top of its pole. Many had come to view this particular flag as a divisive symbol and a reminder of the legacy of white supremacy and African-American oppression in the South.

In the wake of the Mother Emanuel massacre, many citizens including those representing the burgeoning Black Lives Matter movement called for its removal. A group of activists based out of Charlotte, North Carolina came together to engage in an act of civil disobedience to remove this flag. Among this group was Bree Newsome, a woman who had already been jailed once for a sit-in at the North Carolina State House during a Moral Monday protest led by Dr. William Barber of the NAACP. This documentary details the extensive behind-the-scenes planning that went into this action, and includes never-before-seen footage from that historic day.

• Category :

  Documentary

• Date :

  Jan . 25 . 2017