They Closed Our Schools

They Closed Our Schools tells the story of Moton High, a school in Prince Georges County, VA where Barbara Johns, a 16-year-old student and others led a two week long boycott demanding equal schools for black children under the separate but equal doctrine.

Encouraged by the NAACP to demand integration, this 1951 event was a precursor to Brown vs. Board of Education.  The result was the closing of all schools in the county for over a year.

This film highlights the stories of the student leaders as well as those who were effected by the school closings, many of whom never completed high school education.

Credit: Directed by Glen Pearcy. Distributed by Mercy Seat Films, 2015.