Hot Springs, Ark. — Join the Hot Springs NAACP as we begin Black History Month by hosting “Voices of Elaine: The 1919 Arkansas Massacre and Its Ongoing Impact,” a symposium.

 

The event featuring a Special Preview Screening of the 2023 documentary film, We Have Just Begun, will take place at 11 a.m. Feb. 4, 2023,  at The Hot Springs Central Theatre, 1008 Central Ave.

 

Between Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 1919, hundreds of African American men, women and children were massacred in and around Elaine, Ark., in Phillips County,

 

This bloody event in the Arkansas Delta has been one of our worst, best-kept secrets.

 

Throughout the film, we’ll learn about subsistence living and the deadly chain of events ignited when a group of black farmers organized to obtain a fair price for their cotton crop.

 

Following the film, the honorable Wendell Griffen, circuit court judge and pastor, will be the key-note speaker. Critically, we will be privileged to host a Q & A with a panel of Elaine residents who are descendants of those who lost their lives in the fall of 1919.

 

What is their reality, past and present? And, how do they envision the future of Elaine?

 

Tickets are $18 per person before Jan. 28, and $25 after. Students may attend for $10.

A boxed lunch is included. Tickets available at www.VoicesofElaineHS.org and at the door.