A Toolkit to Educate, Inspire and Mobilize the Next Generation of Voters and Voting Rights Advocates Featuring clips from the film, FREEDOM SUMMER. A Firelight Films Production for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

GET OUT THE VOTE TOOLKIT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A Message from Firelight Media 2

Film Description 3

Description of the Clips (Courtesy of American Experience) 3

The Mississippi Freedom Summer Project – A Brief History 5

The Impact of Freedom Summer - By The Numbers (Courtesy of TheRoot.Com) 6

Do We Need Another Freedom Summer? 8

Voting Rights Then and Now 9

Making it Harder to Vote: Restrictive Voting Legislation in 2014 (Courtesy of the Advancement Project) 10

The Power of the Youth Vote 11

Eight Strategies for Unlocking the Youth Vote 11

Bibliography and Resource Organizations 13

About Firelight Media and Firelight Films 14

Funders, Acknowledgments, and Credits 14

A MESSAGE FROM FIRELIGHT MEDIA

Making the film FREEDOM SUMMER was a humble reminder of how precious the right to vote is -- and of our shared obligation to defend that right and participate in the political system.

When we began production on this film, we knew the national broadcast of the film would coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project in June 2014. We looked forward to the oppor-tunity to honor those American heroes who made an enormous contribution to our democracy, and celebrate the fruit of their efforts.

Then the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision came down from the Supreme Court - weakening the very Voting Rights Act that was at the center of our story - and immediately we knew that this film was not just a history lesson, it was a wake-up call.

Everywhere we look we are seeing roadblocks and rollbacks to voter protections put in place as a result of Freedom Summer and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. And not just in Mississippi, but in states like Ohio, Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Wisconsin. Sadly, as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, we see communities across the country fighting to maintain the right to vote.

That is why we created this FREEDOM SUMMER Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) Toolkit. We believe the powerful story of those brave young people can inspire the next generation of voters and voting rights advocates. This free resource is designed specifically for organizations that recruit or train staff or volunteers for canvassing, voter education and GOTV efforts in communities across the country.

The Toolkit features a DVD or flash drive with seven short clips from the two-hour film FREEDOM SUMMER, and this companion booklet that provides background on Freedom Summer 1964, voter suppression then and now, and contemporary strategies for reaching young voters.

You can use the film clips together or separately, in a range of settings; to educate staff on the historic struggle for the right to vote, to train voter registration volunteers on traditional GOTV techniques, or to motivate voting rights advocates.

We encourage you to watch history, then make your own!

FILM DESCRIPTION

Directed by Stanley Nelson (FREEDOM RIDERS, JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PEOPLES TEMPLE, THE MURDER OF EMMETT TILL) and presented by the acclaimed PBS series American Experience, FREEDOM SUMMER is a two-hour documentary film that tells the story of the summer of 1964 when more than 700 student volunteers joined with civil rights movement organizers and local blacks in a historic effort to shatter the foundations of white supremacy in the nation’s most segregated state: Mississippi. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was called “cinematic lightening” by The Progressive Magazine. The film had a national television broadcast on June 24, 2014 on the PBS series, American Experience.

DESCRIPTION OF THE CLIPS The Freedom Summer GOTV Toolkit includes seven short clips from the film.

CLIP 1 - VOTING RIGHTS IN 1964

Total Running Time: 3 minutes 32 seconds

Provides a short summary of Freedom Summer 1964, the intimidation and terrorism experienced by black Mississippians, and the courage of the local organizers and volunteers who participated in the campaign.

CLIP 2 - RECRUITING FREEDOM SUMMER VOLUNTEERS

Total Running Time: 5 minutes 43 seconds

Includes testimony from Freedom Summer volunteers on what compelled them to risk their lives to register local Mississippians.

CLIP 3 - RACIAL OPPRESSION AND VOTER SUPPRESSION

Total Running Time: 5 minutes 9 seconds

Includes archival footage of law enforcement and White Citizens’ Councils’ efforts to suppress the voter registration efforts throughout Mississippi.

CLIP 4 - CONFRONTING CHALLENGES IN THE FIELD

Total Running Time: 6 minutes 33 seconds

Includes scenes of interaction between local residents and the Freedom Summer volunteers during registration drives, and the resistance that they encountered while attempting to register voters.

CLIP 5 - RECRUITING LOCAL LEADERS

Total Running Time: 3 minutes 13 seconds

Covers the recruitment of famed activist Fannie Lou Hamer into the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project.

CLIP 6 - MOTIVATING VOLUNTEERS

Total Running Time: 2 minutes 43 seconds

Takes viewers into the nightly mass meetings and highlights the use of freedom songs to motivate voter registration volunteers.

CLIP 7 - FROM VOTERS TO DELEGATES

Total Running Time: 4 minutes, 13 seconds

Introduces the launch of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) and the evolution of newly registered voters into MFDP delegates.

THE MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM SUMMER PROJECT A BRIEF HISTORY In 1964, less than 7% of Mississippi’s African Americans were registered to vote, compared to between 50 and 70% in other southern states. In many rural counties, African Americans made up the majority of the population and the segregationist white establishment was prepared to use any means necessary to keep them away from the polls and out of elected office. As Missis-sippian William Winter recalls, “A lot of white people thought that African Americans in the South would literally take over and white people would have to move, would have to get out of the state.”

For years, local civil rights workers had tried unsuccessfully to increase voter registration amongst African Americans. Those who wished to vote had to face the local registrar, an all-pow-erful white functionary who would often publish their names in the paper and pass the word on to their employers and bankers. And if loss of jobs and the threat of violence wasn’t enough to dissuade them, the complex and arcane testing policies were certain to keep them off the rolls.

In 1964, a new plan was hatched by Bob Moses, a local secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). For 10 weeks, white students from the North would join activists on the ground for a massive effort that would do what had been impossible so far: force the media and the country to take notice of the shocking violence and massive injustice taking place in Mississippi.

Word of the coming influx spread and Mississippi officials geared up for the newcomers by increasing police forces, passing new ordinances, and purchasing riot gear and weapons. Meanwhile, Mississippi Summer Project (later known as Freedom Summer) students gathered on the campus of Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio to meet with SNCC leaders for training. After the first week, the volunteers learned that three members of their group -- Mickey Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney -- had gone missing in Mississippi. As the days passed and the young men were not heard from, people began to fear the worst -- that they had been murdered by the Klan.

Undaunted, Freedom Summer volunteers went down to Missis-sippi, fanning out across the state, embedding themselves with local families, and setting up Freedom Schools for children where African American history and culture were taught -- subjects forbidden in their regular public schools.

On August 4, 1964, the bodies of the three missing men were finally found, buried beneath an earthen dam. But despite the brutal murders, volunteers and locals were more committed to their cause than ever; they focused their attention on signing people up for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which planned to challenge the all-white Mississippi delegation at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City. Dele-gates included Fannie Lou Hamer, a former sharecropper who had been beaten while trying to register to vote and who had emerged as an authentic and passionate spokeswoman. At the convention, Hamer’s speech moved the crowd but proved no match for the Johnson machine, which feared the upheaval would threaten his candidacy.

As activist Charles McLaurin remarks in the film, “I felt really bad that we had not unseated the Mississippi delegation. But Fannie Lou and I came home with the feeling that our mission had not ended. We were coming home to continue to fight for the right to vote. We were charged because we had stuff back here to do.” A year later, Congress finally passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“Spending a summer in Mississippi taught me a lot about this country. My high school social studies teacher taught me that we all have rights. Mississippi summer taught me that we didn’t all have rights.” Karin Kunstler, Freedom Summer volunteer

DO WE NEED ANOTHER FREEDOM SUMMER?

Fifty years after the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project many contemporary leaders have called for a second Freedom Summer. They point to the weakening of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, an uptick in voter suppression efforts, and the histori-cally low turnout of midterm elections as cause to revive the efforts of 1964.

Here is a sampling of voices that have sounded the call for renewed spirit of civic engagement:

“In 1964, black would-be voters were turned away by intimi-dation and poll tests. Now, voter ID requirements and limited voting hours will disproportionately turn away, or inconvenience, low-income and minority voters. It is a more sophisticated and insidious form of voter suppression…So we cannot let this new movement — these cynical and sinister attempts to disenfran-chise Americans — go. If it takes an act of “outside agitation,” so be it. If it requires courage, we can summon it. If it means replacing cynicism with optimism and apathy with action, we can accomplish it ”

- David Goodman, brother of slain Freedom Summer volunteer Andrew Goodman. (Source: 50 Years After the Murder of My Brother, Andrew Goodman, Voter Rights Still Threatened)

“Today, 50 years on from that historic summer, we are facing many of the same challenges in a host of states. After so many marched, organized, petitioned, registered voters, and risked their lives and livelihoods -- and some even died -- how do we as a country allow their victories to be stripped away before our very eyes? If there was ever a time to have a renewed Freedom Summer, that time is now, in 2014.”

- Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network. (Source: Why 2014 Should Be Another Freedom Summer)

“Freedom Summer should not be seen as a one-time event…We are each accountable this year, not only to commemorate Freedom Summer but also to re-create it.” - Rep. Stacey Abrams, (Source: When It Comes to Voting, Freedom Summer Wasn’t a One-Time Event)

“Let [Bob] Moses’ genius be our guide: that the best and only way to effect meaningful, long-lasting change is to train and empower others to make their world anew. The traditional top-down model has a number of limits and has often been based on a condescending attitude of so-called leaders toward so-called followers. Change from the ground up is change that will last. By using that approach, we will live up to Moses’ example and that of the late Victoria Gray Adams, a founder of the Missis-sippi Freedom Democratic Party, who believed in her heart that “freedom summer never really ended.”

– Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University (Source: What Was Freedom Summer?)

“This year, on the 50th Anniversary of Freedom Summer, the lessons of that historic protest drive home what’s at stake in battles around the country to protect voting rights. This moment is an opportunity to push back against voter suppression efforts, to ensure that the sacrifices of those who bravely took part in Freedom Summer and the Civil Rights Movement continue to be recognized by the legislation they fought for.”

– Yoruba Richen, director of The New Black, (Source: 50 Years After the Freedom Summer, the Fight for the Vote Continues)

“Freedom Summer organizers risked their lives and transformed our nation for the better. Today, we need to summon the courage to ensure their efforts are not being rolled back. History has taught us that we can be powerful agents of social change when we organize, agitate, and – most importantly – vote. The summer of 2014 will be an important test for the cause of freedom.”

– Benjamin Todd Jealous, former president and CEO of the NAACP (Source: Why we need a second Freedom Summer in 2014)

VOTING RIGHTS – THEN AND NOW50 years after Freedom Summer, the battle for voting rights rages on. The Shelby County vs. Holder decision in 2013 opened up the door for many states to consider enacting new restric-tions on voting. These new restrictions disproportionately affect students, young African Americans, Latinos, women and elderly voters.

WHAT IS AT STAKE?The demographic groups most affected by voter restrictions and voter suppression efforts have immense political leverage. When encouraged to participate in the electoral process these groups can do more than swing elections, they can advocate for policies and laws that fundamentally shape our democracy.

Studies show that young people were a decisive force in the election of President Barack Obama. And, in 2012, without young people, Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Pennsylvania would have flipped from Blue to Red. (Source: CIRCLE -The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement)

According to an NAACP study on The Youth Vote in 2008: Young African Americans posted the highest turnout rate ever observed for any racial or ethnic group of young Americans since 1972. The gap in turnout by educational attainment remained large; voter turnout of young people without college experience was 36%, compared to a 62% rate among young people with college experience. (About half of the young adult population has some college experience.) There was also a significant gender gap in turnout: young women voted at a rate eight points above young men. As 10 percent of the nation’s voting population, Latinos “have provided the margin of victory in many key elections.” Latinos represent a significant voting population in large states like California and Texas, and new Latino voters – those turning 18 or becoming naturalized citizens – will be an important force in states like Georgia and Virginia. (Source: Latinos and the VRA: A Modern Fix for Modern Day Discrimination).

With so much potential power, these groups should be en-couraged to participate in the political process. Restricting or suppressing their vote has major implications on the laws and lawmakers that govern our lives.

HOW ARE VOTES SUPPRESSED?In 1964, voter suppression took on many forms:

Poll Taxes –Poll taxes served as a pre-condition for the right to vote. They were enacted by states across the country, mainly functioning as a way to limit the participation of newly freed African Americans. Read a short history of the poll taxes. Literacy Tests – Tests enacted in the late 1800s that served as a pre-condition for the right to vote. The tests were created and administered by local city officials and covered a range of topics, from U.S. history to random trivia. The tests were part of a tactic to deny the right to vote to African Americans. Would you pass a literacy test given to Louisiana voters in 1960? Intimidation and Violence – Though not legally sanctioned, many local officials and business leaders in states across the country employed a range of tactics to intimidate or physically prevent potential voters from registering or voting. These tactics included church bombings and cross burnings, threats to employment, denials of loans, and even murder.

In 2014, voter suppression is less overt, but it can have the same chilling effect. Look at the graphic on the next page for examples of voter suppression efforts today, courtesy of The Advancement Project.

WHAT IS BEHIND THE EFFORT TO RESTRICT VOTERS?The current rollbacks to voting rights are often created with the stated intent of protecting against voter fraud. Yet studies show the incidents of actual voter fraud are greatly exaggerated, and the harm of the restrictions does not outweigh the threat of possible voter fraud. It is more likely that an individual will be struck by lightning than that he will impersonate another voter at the polls. (Source: Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law)

B

MAKING IT HARDER TO VOTERESTRICTIVE VOTING LEGISLATION IN 2014

HAVE MORE QUESTIONS?VISIT US ONLINE:

www.advancementproject.org@adv_project /AdvancementProject

VOTER SUPPRESSION TACTICS

.....................................................................................................

Proposed Legislation

Passed Legislation

..............................................

CUTS TO EARLY VOTINGThese laws attempt to reduce early voting periods, which are utilized by African Americans at higher rates than White voters. Aside from slashing the number of days for early voting and eliminating early voting during weekends and evening hours, these laws also cut voting on the Sunday before Election Day (“Souls to the Polls”).Passed/Proposed in 2014: GA, MO, OH, WI

VOTER & PHOTO IDThese restrictive laws would require citizens to present a specific form of ID just to vote. Eleven percent of American citizens don’t have a qualifying photo ID, including 25% of African Americans, 20% of people aged 18 to 29, and 18% of seniors. Passed/Proposed in 2014: AL, CO, IL, IA, KY, MD, MA, MO, NH, NY, NE, OH, OK, WA, WI, WV

MAKING VOTER REGISTRATION HARDERThese laws would burden third-party registration groups, imposing stricter requirements and posing financial penalties for failure to comply. Many voter registration groups have shut down operations under these restric-tions. African-American and Latino voters register through drives at nearly twice the rate of White voters.Passed/Proposed in 2014: AL, AZ, CO, IA, MO, NJ, NE, OH, OK, VT, WI

PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP REQUIREMENTSThese laws would require expensive documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. This was previously unheard of because federal law already provides protections against noncitizens registering to vote - including prison, fines, and deportation. Passed/Proposed in 2014: UT

PURGESThese restrictive laws would purge registered voters from their voter rolls based on flawed suspicion of their citizenship status. These laws use faulty databases and improperly target naturalized citizens, the majority of whom are voters of color.Passed/Proposed in 2014: VA

ELIMINATING SAME DAY REGISTRATIONBy taking away the convenience and choice of registering at the polls, eliminating SDR prevents more people from voting, especially low-income voters who move more frequently. For citizens who are wrongly kicked o! the voter rolls, eliminating registration at the polls may prevent them from casting a ballot that counts.Passed/Proposed in 2014: NE

*Current as of June 20, 2014

THE POWER OF THE YOUTH VOTE

In 1964, over a thousand college students, mostly white students from northern col-leges, joined organizers from four civil rights organizations – SNCC, CORE, NAACP and the SCLC – for the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project. While many veteran civil rights organizers had a hand in crafting the plan, it was largely designed and implemented by young people. Bob Moses, Julian Bond, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael and Rita Schwerner were all under 30 years of age in 1964. In many ways, Freedom Summer represents the power of young people to take bold action, mobilize citizens, and ultimately change the course of history.

Freedom Summer 1964 was about more than just securing the right to vote, but it was clear that, as Bob Moses said, “the key to unlocking Mississippi revolved around the vote.” Today young people continue to represent a powerful force in American politics. This generation’s young are diverse ethnically and ideologically, and they will soon represent one third of all eligible voters. Yet that power remains underdeveloped. While their numbers have increased since the 2004 election, too many young people fail to leverage their power. So how do we get young people engaged? There are a host of strategies – from grassroots organizing to modernizing the voting process – that can activate the youth vote.

DISPEL THE MYTHS – Young people may be more susceptible to myths that surround voting. Common myths include: will registering increase likelihood of getting jury duty, will providing a college address affect financial aid, does the electoral college cancel out individual votes, etc. It is import-ant to understand those misconceptions and be prepared to dispel or respond to them.

ADDRESS THE UNIQUE BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION - College students are a critical source of potential youth voters, yet the transient nature of their lives presents unique challenges to voting. For many college students, the basic requirements of voting - proving residency in a state, maintaining a consistent home address, and possessing a valid state ID – discour-age students from even attempting to register. While some states are considering ways to eliminate these barriers, many more states main-tain requirements that make voting difficult to impossible for college students. (Source: NAACP Youth & College Division, This Is My Vote). Further, 1 of every 13 African Americans is unable to vote because of laws that prohibit those with felony convictions from voting. This has a ripple affect in the African American community, as generations of black men and women are shut out of the political process, some before they’ve even had a chance to cast their first ballot. Any GOTV strategy must consider ways to engage the populations that are shut out of the political process.

BE LIKE BOB – There are countless attempts to understand and reach the millennial generation, often motivated by political or economic gain. Despite the market research and studies, this generation of young people is hard to pin down. One cannot assume, for example, that a second gen-eration Vietnamese college student will share her immigrant parents’ beliefs. She may in fact have more in common culturally and politically with her African American roommate. Freedom Summer organizer Bob Moses demonstrated that to be an effective advocate one must be, “open and accustomed to listening.” Basic organizing strategy reminds us to check our assumptions, humble ourselves, and listen to the needs, concerns and aspirations of young people in order to engage them politically.

VOTING IS LIKE STRETCHING – Color of Change director Rashad Robinson says, “Voting is like stretching. If you don’t do it before exercising you’ll be sore tomorrow, but stretching alone won’t make you lose that ten pounds.” The right to vote is the bedrock of our society and it is all of our duty to protect it by exercising it. However, an engaged citizenry does more than simply vote every four years. The key to unlocking the youth vote is helping young people see themselves as agents of change in their lives, communities and country. Voting is the critical first step to engagement, but hopefully not the last.

EIGHT STRATEGIES FOR UNLOCKING THE YOUTH VOTE

GO ONLINE – Young folks conduct many aspects of their lives - social, academic and financial – online. Whether en gaging young people on social media platforms or allowing young adults to register online, the key is to meet young people where they are and provide opportunities to get educated, get involved and get registered.

EMPLOY YOUTH TO REACH YOUTH – There is little match for the energy and enthusiasm of a young volunteer or staffer. If the goal is to reach a young demographic, it is critical to empower youth at all levels of the organization – from strategy and messaging, to canvassing, recruiting and poll monitoring. Young people understand their peers and can devise fresh and innovative tactics to inspire and motivate the youth vote.

SEEK OUT AUTHENTIC LEADERS – Freedom Summer taught us that identifying authentic leaders like Fannie Lou Hamer could have a ripple effect far beyond a single campaign. Mrs. Hamer became more than a powerful GOTV volunteer, she became a beacon of hope and an inspiration for the thousands of sharecroppers and women who she represented throughout the south. Finding promising young people and providing them with skill building and leadership opportunities can certainly be the catalyst for a career in public service, but it may have an even more powerful effect on the many young people they represent who may not have considered entering the political arena. It is equally important to look at the target population and identify leaders within that group; so finding young leaders that represent the same linguistic, ethnic, religious, economic and sexual orientation is critical.

ENTHUSIASM, LOCATION, TABLING, TRAINING AND CLASS RAPS – The folks behind the National Voter Registration Day have created excellent tools for any group leading a voter registration effort on a college campus, though this is useful for any place where young folks gather. They’ve whittled down their best practices to five tips: 1) Use humor and positive energy to engage reluctant students and motivate them to get registered, 2) Do your research to consider the best location to reach students, paying special attention to places where disenfranchised populations might congregate, 3) When tabling, keep the energy high, stay accessible and approach students in an informal, engaging manner. People want to feel positive about voting, rather than guilty about not voting, 4) Train your volunteers so that they can respond to a range of technical questions about the voting process, and 5) Build relationships with professors in order to present “class raps” or voter registration pitches to an entire class. (Source: The What, Why, and How of Campus Voter Registration. National Voter Registration Day).

1 5

6

7

8

2

3

4

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RESOURCE LISTAmerican Experience film website – Features a timeline of Freedom Summer, biography on Fannie Lou Hamer, photo gallery, teacher resources and film transcript

Freedom Summer campaign for African American voting rights in Mississippi, 1964: Article from the Global Nonviolent Action Database

True South: Unleashing Democracy in the Black Belt 50 Years After Freedom Summer – A Report from the Center for American Promise and the Southern Elections Foundation

Latinos and the VRA: A Modern Fix for Modern Day Discrimination - A Joint Report of Mexican American Legal Defense and Educa-tional Fund National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials National Hispanic Leadership Agenda

Your Voice Matters, Your Vote Matters: Register Now – A short video aimed at young adults from the Brennan Center for Justice

Fifty Years After Freedom Summer The Voting Rights Act is Need-ed Now More Than Ever – Ari Berman, The Nation Magazine

RESOURCE ORGANIZATIONS AND VOTING RIGHTS INITIATIVES Advancement Project

Algebra Project

Bend the Arc – A Jewish Partnership for Justice

Brennan Center for Justice

Bus Federation Civic Fund

Dream Defenders

Freedom Side

Free To Vote

League of Women Voters

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

NAACP Legal Defense Fund

National Coalition for Black Civic Participation

National Voter Registration Day 2014 Ohio Student Association

Rock the Vote

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

SNCC Legacy Project

The Young People’s Project

United We Dream

Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement

Voto Latino

VRA for Today

Working Films

18MillionRising

“I have just returned from a spring project on a voter registration drive in Raleigh, North Carolina, where I was filled with an overwhelming desire to clean the rot out of America. All I can say is that its very important to me that I play my role in Civil Rights for the U.S. and most of all for myself.”

Linda Wetmore, Freedom Summer volunteer

SPECIAL THANK YOUGeri Mannion – Carnegie Corporation of New York

Henry Der – Public Interest Projects

Chika Offurum, Vanessa Ezersky - American Experience

Cynthia Gordy - Advancement Project

Matt Singer - Bus Federation

Chrissy Faessen, Ashley Spillane – Rock the Vote

CREDITSFreedom Summer GOTV Toolkit Producer Sonya Childress, Firelight Media

Graphic Design Instrumental

Video Editor Vanessa Ruiz, American Experience

Spanish Translation Valle Translations - ATA & CA Certified

ABOUT FIRELIGHT FILMS AND FIRELIGHT MEDIAFirelight Films is a production company dedicated to producing high quality and compelling social-issue films led by veteran filmmaker Stanley Nelson.

Firelight Media is a non-profit organization dedicated to devel-oping talented documentary filmmakers who tell stories about people, places, cultures and issues that are underrepresented in the mainstream media.

Firelight Media’s Community Engagement Division creates stra-tegic impact campaigns for social issue documentary films. Past campaigns include Freedom Riders and Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, both of which are often cited as setting a high standard for film-based impact campaigns.

Visit us at http://firelightmedia.tv/

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/firelightmedia

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/firelightmedia/ then tweet about the film at #FreedomSummerFilm

For more information about the film, free resources or partner-ships, please contact info@firelightmedia.org.

The FREEDOM SUMMER GOTV Toolkit is produced by Firelight Media with support from Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Additional support for the Freedom Summer Community Engagement Campaign provided by:

Wallace H. Coulter Foundation

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

The Bertha BRITDOC Connect Fund