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TV Program will Air Interview on MCC Rochester Neighborhood Project


CityWise, a weekly public affairs talk show that covers issues and information of particular interest to Rochester city residents, will broadcast an interview this week with Verdis Robinson, MCC history instructor, and with Ebony McLarty, one of his students who was involved in the MCC Rochester Neighborhood Oral History Project in 2013-14. They will discuss the 1964 Rochester riots and efforts by Robinson and his history service-learning students to stimulate community conversations about race relations and the 50th anniversary of the riots.

The program will air at 8 p.m. Thursday, July 17, on City 12, which is available only within city limits on Time Warner Cable. Viewing information for that channel is at
https://www.cityofrochester.gov/city12/. Viewers must live in the city to see it; however, it repeats several times throughout the week and comes on WXXI on Sunday afternoons:

City 12 schedule:

·         Thursday at 8 p.m.
·         Friday at 2 p.m.
·         Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
·         Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

If you are not a Rochester city resident, you can watch the segment on WXXI-TV cable channels 11 and 1011 at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Since they launched the MCC Rochester Neighborhood Oral History Project in fall 2013, more than 60 MCC service-learning students in Verdis Robinson’s history and African-American studies courses at MCC’s Damon City Campus have taken what they learned about the riots and developed various platforms -- including a self-guided walking tour, a guidebook and a "
https://www.facebook.com/RochesterRiotsMCC" Facebook page -- to foster dialogues in Rochester neighborhoods and online.

In July 1964, race riots broke out over three days in Rochester, ending in four deaths and the arrests of more than 1,000 residents. Hundreds of businesses were looted and damaged.

The 40-page guidebook, “The Rochester Riots of 1964: A Walking Tour of Joseph Avenue,” follows in the footsteps of rioters and takes readers to eight stops along Joseph Avenue, where the riots began. The guidebook contains historical photos and provides a brief history of race relations in Rochester as well as the economic and political landscape of Rochester and the nation in the decade leading up to the riots. The purpose of the guidebook is to show how the Joseph Avenue neighborhood has changed, explore the effects of racism, and engage the community in improving the neighborhood.

Verdis Robinson will facilitate discussions at four walking tours in July organized by the Rochester Public Library’s Lincoln branch on 851 Joseph Ave. The tours are scheduled for July 15, 17, 29, and 31 starting at 4 p.m. at the Lincoln library, where free copies of the guidebook are available.

Hency Yuen-Eng
Marketing and Community Relations
07/15/2014