THE APOLLOS
July 2: Seventh Annual Media That Matters Film Festival filmmakers, Jazmin Jones and Nick Parker, receive a prestigious honor in Washington for their work on The Apollos
Every year, the National Education Association hosts an awards ceremony for individuals who they feel have defended and championed human and civil rights. This Human and Civil Rights Awards program was originally founded by the American Teachers Association (ATA) in order to recognize and commend individuals who have both bettered student-teacher relations in public schools and developed new educational opportunities for students and teachers of color. This tradition is now upheld by the National Education Association, which merged with ATA in 1966. NEA aims to amalgamate champions of human and civil rights whose actions and leadership have ensured the continuation of these rights into future generations.
One of this year's prestigious NEA Human and Civil Rights Awards will be presented to Jazmin Jones and Nick Parker for their work on the documentary short, The Apollos. This film, which was featured nationwide in the Seventh Annual Media That Matters Film Festival, illuminates the efforts of a groundbreaking group of Oakland Technical High School students, tokened the Apollos, who tirelessly fought to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a recognized state holiday in 1981. Jones and Parker's film includes historical documents, sound clips, and interviews with former Oakland Technical High School students and faculty members. July 2nd's Human and Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association is only the latest of a series of honors which The Apollos has earned the young filmmakers.
By, Christina Capatides
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