Courage Under Fire

This week, the Iliff School of Theology and a number of community co-sponsors will host several special guests — nine of them, to be exact. Fifty years ago, the Little Rock Nine integrated the first Arkansas public school, despite the attempts of angry mobs and a misappropriated National Guard presence to block their entry. Intervention by the Supreme Court and President Eisenhower resulted in the long-overdue upholding of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision — and the rest is civil-rights history. Tonight, several members of the Nine, including Englewood resident Carlotta Walls LaNier, will be at Starz FilmCenter in the Tivoli to introduce the "Celebration of Courage" Film Festival, hosted by the Denver Film Society. Journey to Little Rock: The Untold Story of Minnijean Brown and Nine From Little Rock, winner of the Oscar for Best Documentary in 1964, will screen tonight; the festival concludes tomorrow. Showtime is 7 p.m.; tickets, $5, are available online at www.denverfilm.org or by phone at 303-595-3456. For details on other "Courage" events, call 303-765-3109 or visit www.iliff.edu.
Feb. 26-27, 7 p.m., 2008