On Sunday, February 11, the Virginia Clinton Kelley Democratic Women and the Hot Springs NAACP will present an educational event, Massacre and Dispossession in the Delta: From Jim Crow to the Present. Attendees will view We Have Just Begun, a documentary about the 1919 massacre in Elaine, Arkansas. Award-winning filmmaker Michael Warren Wilson, an Arkansas native, will discuss his decision to undertake the telling of this deadly event and its unfolding.
Jennifer Hadlock, an attorney, researcher, and community organizer from New York, will present findings from her extensive research in Elaine and Phillips County. She spent a year researching land deed records to which Elaine descendants have historically been denied access.
Hadlock’s research connects the dots between the Elaine massacre and extensive land theft that robbed black owners of their farms, homes, and businesses, and placed the resource that was their lifeblood into the hands of white owners.
The audience will hear from Elaine residents about their experiences and hope for restorative justice through TIAA Exposed, an organization seeking accountability and reparations from TIAA for practices that conflict with their published corporate values of equity and environmental responsibility.
Doors open at 1:30 p.m. and the event will begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Central Cabaret at 1008 Central Avenue. Admission is $15 online at www.naacphs6013.org, or at the door. Snacks and beverages will be available for purchase.
