Emory Library hosts Black History Month film screening

Emory University Libraries will partner with Atlanta-based BronzeLens Film Festival to host an online screening and conversation for Black History Month in February, according to a press release.

“Athlete. Scholar. Activist: Chapters in the Life of Dr. Pellom McDaniels III” will take place Sunday, Feb. 7, at 3 p.m. The event will begin with a screening of the film “Flash Here and There Like Falling Stars: The Life and Work of Dr. Pellom McDaniels III,” followed by a conversation.

The event honors the contributions of McDaniels, former Emory professor of African American studies and curator of African American collections at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, who passed away in April 2020. McDaniels, a former NFL player for the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons, earned his master’s and PhD degrees from Emory. He focused his life’s work on researching, collecting and sharing the stories of African Americans throughout history.

This virtual event is open to the public at no charge.

Speakers will include:

• Nsenga Burton (moderator), co-director of the Film and Media Management concentration at Emory University; author; multimedia journalist; blogger; filmmaker; producer
• Valerie Boyd, journalist; award-winning author; Charlayne Hunter-Gault Distinguished Writer in Residence and an associate professor of journalism at the University of Georgia
• Leatrice Ellzy, executive director of Hammonds House Museum in Atlanta; senior director of programming at the Apollo Theater in New York City; frequent participant in arts conversations; has worked at Georgia Public Broadcasting, Woodruff Arts Center and the National Black Arts Festival
• Fahamu Pecou, interdisciplinary artist; fall 2020 Emory Arts and Social Justice Fellow; scholar who worked with McDaniels when Pecou was a student in Emory’s doctoral program
• Joe Posnanski, senior writer at The Athletic; named national sportswriter of the year by five different organizations; two-time Emmy winner as part of NBC’s digital Olympics coverage; author of five books

The event is co-sponsored by the Rose Library, Arts at Emory and the AJC Decatur Book Festival presented by Emory University.