Please join the Denver Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division for a screening of “Shared History” and engage in thoughtful discussion of the film, as well as discussion on Resolution 505 issued by the American Bar Association (ABA).    

 

Attendees may appear in-person only. The in-person screening will be held at the CBA/DBA offices at 6PM. The conversation of the film will begin at 7PM. All participants should review ABA Resolution 505 prior to their attendance.    

 

Food and beverage will be provided!

   

 

Program Description:  

 

"Shared History” was first broadcasted through the USA on PBS Plus nearly 18 years ago, beginning as an effort to document the historical relationship between a former slave owner’s family and the African American families that were connected to the Woodlands Plantation, located near Charleston, South Carolina. Using an extraordinary collection of historic images, documents, and oral histories as well as family photographs, film footage, and videos, “Shared History” documents the living descendants’ efforts to examine the persistence of the relationship and expose the myths that have sustained their connection for more than two centuries. “Shared History” personalizes contemporary views of American history–a history that includes slavery and its aftermath of segregation and inequalities. By witnessing the interactions of Americans directly connected to each other through slavery, viewers see the constructed mythologies that made this particular relationship possible. In doing so, they are challenged to examine their personal responsibility in perpetuating or transforming the national mythologies of slavery and race that we all live with today.    

 

Across the nation, politically driven efforts to ban books and curriculum have grown. February 2024, the ABA issued Resolution 505, wherein the ABA asserts that curricular bans remove important resources for teaching the subjects that are vital to an informed citizenry and healthy democracy. In Resolution 505, the ABA emphasizes is opposition to the legislation, regulations, and policies restricting the teaching and inclusion of these fundamental topics. The resolution focuses on protecting the ability to teach about and provide access to books and resources based on the experiences of individuals who are members of the LBTQIA+ community as well as all genders, races, ethnic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic groups.    

 

We hope to bring together members of the Denver legal community to engage in important and considerate discussion on each of these mediums, as well as how they are connected in their purpose. Additionally, we hope to discuss what impact these considerations should have on the legal field, and what our role as lawyers is in the current climate.    

   

 

If you have questions please email Emma Baxter.    

   

 

 

*Approved for 1 DEI Credit.