The Rev. Gil Caldwell and Marilyn Bennett
Marilyn Bennett, a white lesbian author and activist and former Dallas resident, and the Rev. Gil Caldwell, a retired black minister, first met when they were arrested together during an act of civil disobedience in Cleveland in 2000. That meeting began a dialog between the two on issues of race, sexual orientation, faith and justice that has lasted ever since. Out of that dialog was born Truth In Progress, a “multimedia project dealing with issues of race, sexual orientation and religion” that takes “a special look at the similar yet different experiences and histories of the black civil rights and LGBT rights movements.”
Also out of that dialog came the idea for “From Selma to Stonewall,” a 30-minute documentary that links the struggles of two communities fighting for civil rights. Now Marilyn and Gil are asking for their communities to help out by contributing to the Kickstarter campaign, launched earlier this month, to fund the production and distribution of the film. You can watch a trailer for the film below.
There are a number of folks working on the documentary, including Dallas filmmaker and activist Cd Kirven. She joins Director of Photography/Film editor Tonya Easbey, web guru Steffen Rasile, author Krys Holmes, the Montana Human Rights Network, Philadelphia filmmaker Phil Katz, Chicago filmmaker Ky Dickens and activist/storyteller Long Time Holy Rain — along, of course, with Bennett and Caldwell.