American Violet – Q & A Part 2

This must-see drama will inspire inner strength and a determination to fight for what’s right, even when the odds are stacked against you.

Based on actual events that transpired in a small government housing project in Melody, Texas during the 2000 election, director Tim Disney (yes, he is related) delivers a powerful message of faith, justice and truth in this endearing drama. Single working mom Dee Roberts (up-and-coming star Nicole Beharie) finds her life is turned upside down when Calvin Beckett (Michael O’Keefe), an all-powerful district attorney, leads a racially motivated drug raid through the low-income housing project where she lives with her four young daughters. Aggressively cuffed and dumped in jail, Dee steadfastly refuses to accept a plea bargain that will set her free. Pitted against a cutthroat and uncaring public defender, and with her children’s future in a tug-of-war between their grandmother (Alfre Woodard) and their abusive father, she turns to a local drug-cop-turned-attorney who is determined to prove her innocence and end the discrimination and bias long-waged against the African-American community. Preceding the April 4 screening, Alfre Woodard will receive the Fade to Black Quest Award and will participate in an on-stage discussion of her career. (see page 42) — Ernestine Johnston