NYC Media, NYC Commission on Human Rights, and Clifford Alexander (center right) ring in the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Photo courtesy of the NY Stock Exchange.

February 10, 2010 - In honor of Black History Month, NYC Media, the official TV, radio and online network of New York City, will present an encore presentation of Fighting for Justice: New York Voices of the Civil Rights Movement. The short documentary profiles two New Yorkers, Esther Cooper Jackson and Clifford Alexander, whose contributions helped to pave the way toward progress for equal justice for African-Americans. It will air on NYC life (channel 25) on Monday, February 22 at 12:30pm, Tuesday, February 23 at 9:30pm, and Sunday, February 28 at 9:30pm.

On January 14, NYC Media and NYC Commission on Human Rights collaborated with the Apollo Theater Education Program to present a free screening of Fighting for Justice at the Apollo Theater followed by a panel. Jonelle Procope, the President of the Apollo Theater welcomed the audience and introduced the film. Following the screening, Katherine Oliver, the president of NYC Media, and Commissioner and Chair of the NYC Commission on Human Rights Patricia Gatling, spoke about the partnership between the agencies that led to Fighting for Justice and its premiere at the Apollo.

Contributing to the panel were Esther Cooper Jackson, one of the co-founders of Freedomways, a magazine that chronicled the efforts of the Civil Rights Movement; Clifford L. Alexander, Jr, who served as counsel to President Lyndon B. Johnson during the passage of the Civil Rights legislation; Dr. Clarence Taylor, Professor of History, Black and Hispanic Studies Department, Baruch College and the Graduate Center, CUNY; Dr. Martha Biondi, Associate Professor of African American Studies and History, Northwestern University; and filmmaker Shola Lynch (Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed).

Keith Brown, senior vice president of news and public affairs at BET Networks, moderated the panel. The evening included a rousing performance by the C3 Youth Choir from the Christian Cultural Center (Rev. A. R. Bernard, pastor).

Footage of the panel can now be viewed online at nyc.gov/media.

On Friday, January 15, Todd Asher, Chief Operating Officer of NYC Media, Commissioner Patricia Gatling, and Clifford Alexander rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.