My Name is Pauli Murray

Fifteen years before Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat, a full decade before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned separate-but-equal legislation, Pauli Murray was already knee-deep fighting for social justice. A pioneering attorney, activist, priest and dedicated memoirist, Murray shaped landmark litigation—and consciousness—around race and gender equity. As an African American youth raised in the segregated South—who was also wrestling with broader notions of gender identity—Pauli understood, intrinsically, what it was to exist beyond previously accepted categories and cultural norms. Both Pauli’s personal path and tireless advocacy foreshadowed some of the most politically consequential issues of our time. Told largely in Pauli’s own words, My Name is Pauli Murray is a candid recounting of that unique and extraordinary journey. DIRECTED BY BETSY WEST AND JULIE COHEN.

Special Guest in Attendance:  BARBARA LAU

Barbara Lau will introduce the 7pm screening on September 17th as well as host a post-film Q&A with the audience.  

Barbara Lau (she/her) is executive director of the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice, a National Historic Landmark site in Durham, NC that honors the legacy of activist, lawyer, poet, and priest, Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray (1910-1985). Anchored by Murray’s childhood home, the center is focused on history, education, the arts, and social mobilization. Since 2009, Lau has also served as the director of the Pauli Murray Project at the Duke Human Rights Center/John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute.  Lau brings 40 years of experience as a folklorist, curator, professor, oral historian, media producer, and author to this work.  Lau teaches undergraduate courses about Durham and LGBTQ history and culture.

HEALTH CHECK: The City of Durham is requiring face coverings to be worn while at the theater except while eating or drinking. Additional policies may apply on a show-by-show basis and are subject to change.