2023 Dr. King Premiere-Invented Before You Were Born

1475 Larkin Avenue,Elgin IL 60123

15 January, 2023

Description

The City of Elgin Human Relations Commission and the 2023 Dr. King Celebration Committee invite our community to an Illinois premiere screening of INVENTED Before You Were Born, a feature documentary by Jonathan Knight and Le Datta Grimes. Both filmmakers, along with Former 46 School Board Member, author and Larkin High Alumnus, Traci Ellis, will be on hand for an audience Q&A session following the film. Synopsis: White siblings, Jonathan and Rachel Knight, discover that they are descendants of Kentucky slaveholder Richard Bibb. Confronting this family history leads to meeting Black descendants of the people enslaved by their ancestor. Descendants and cousins linked by slavery come together searching for common truths. Decades before the Civil War, sixty-five enslaved people were freed by the will of Major Richard Bibb in Russellville, Kentucky. They inherited land, tools, houses and money - everything they needed to establish themselves as free Blacks in America. The descendants of these freedmen and the white descendants of Major Bibb discover their connection to this story and begin confronting the full truth of their past. Traci Ellis is one of these descendants. The 2023 theme of the City of Elgin’s Dr. King Celebration is “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” The 2023 Dr. King Celebration Family Event will reflect what a filmmaker, historian and local community leader have done, are doing and will do to empower and heal all of Dr. King’s Beloved Community. Our premiere is free. Light refreshments will be provided through the generosity of Briana’s Pancake House. For more information, please contact Danise @ [email protected] or 847-754-8064