Name: Special screening of “ Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round” with Q&A
Start: 2026-02-23T19:00:00-08:00
End: 2026-02-23T21:30:00-08:00
Location: Laemmle Monica Film Center

$Special screening of \u201c Ain\u2019t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round\u201d with Q&A$

Join us for a special screening of “Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round” with a Q&A with director and Erin Gruwell of Freedom Writers!
About this Event

Special Screening in honor of Black History Month of “Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round” with Q&A

Join us for an in-person special screening of the captivating film “Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round”! Stick around after the movie for a live Q&A with director Ilana Trachtman and Erin Gruwell, founder of Freefom Writers.
Five Howard students sat down on the gilded horses of whites-only carousel the summer of 1960. When the white community near Glen Echo Amusement Park joined the Black students en masse and set up picket lines, an unprecedented collaboration was born. The pickets attracted Nazis, Congressman, and a press avalanche. Picketing together led to partying together and union organizers mentored student activists, ultimately producing ten 1961 Freedom Riders, including Stokely Carmichael, and a Supreme Court case.
With never-before seen footage, and immersive storytelling by Emmy-award winning director Ilana Trachtman, four living protesters rescue this untold story, revealing the price, and the power, of heeding the impulse to activism. AIN'T NO BACK TO A MERRY-GO-ROUND includes voiceover by noted actors Jeffrey Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Bob Balaban, Lee Grant, Peter Gallagher, Dominique Thorne, Alysia Reiner, and Tracie Thoms.Directed by Ilana Trachtman89 mins/USA/Documentary/2026