Lavender Pen Tour: From Selma to Stonewall

Good Grief with Cheryl Jones

At the heart of the Lavender Pen tour of October, 2017 was a recognition that none of us are free until we are all free. One way participants connected LGBTQ oppression with the oppression of people of color and other marginalized communities was watching the film From Selma to Stonewall, which explores the intersection of the fights for African American civil rights and LGBTQ rights. The filmmakers then met the tour in Selma to speak at Brown Chapel and walk the Edmund Pettus Bridge with the tour participants. Filmmaker Caldwell took the original walk with Dr. Martin Luther King. Filmmaker Marilyn Bennett is a lifelong advocate for LGBTQ rights, especially within the church community. How did this tour, with its recognition of the intersection of these fights, affect them? What was it like to walk the bridge with 300 people, reliving the experience of Civil Rights workers who marched with King? What do they want to share about the impact of shared commitment to each other's fights?