Our Crowdfunding Groups
Thank you for showing interest in this project! If you are still interested in making a contribution please reach out to Nathaniel Ball at ncball@memphis.edu.
The fight for voting rights in the United States builds upon the struggle of everyday people who worked to secure and protect equal access to the ballot box.
Join our growing list of supporters for the film "Freedom's Village" a short film produced by the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change about the importance of the right to vote! We are campaigning with the support of University of Memphis film students to provide production and postproduction costs for the film.
"Freedom's Village" is based in real events that occurred in the 1960s in Fayette County, Tennessee as African Americans in the county struggled to gain the right to vote. 
About the Civil Rights Movement in Fayette County, Tenn.
In 1959, Fayette County African Americans began a voter registration campaign. They quickly faced staggering retaliation from the white community. African Americans who registered to vote were named in a secret “blacklist,” barring the newly registered voters from acquiring food, gas, and even access to medical care. Additionally, African American sharecroppers in Fayette County were evicted from their homes in retaliation for registering.
Hundreds of these families relocated to one of two Tent Cities, emergency shelter communities situated on privately-owned African American land in the county. Dozens of old army tents housed men, women, and children, the elderly and the infirm. Many residents lived in these Tent Cities for more than two years as they carried on the struggle to access voting and civil rights.
About "Freedom's Village"
Our film tells their story through the eyes of a fictional African American sharecropper couple in 1960 Fayette County who find refuge in Freedom’s Village. Together, they navigate the hardships forced upon them by white supremacy while their resolve, values and marriage are tested.
Today, as new barriers throughout the country threaten equal access to the ballot box, their story shows the power of civil rights movements built by common citizens willing to fight for the vision of ‘a more perfect union.’
Please join us in supporting our crowdfunding campaign with UofM film students to cover production and post-production costs for this film. Thank you.
For $5 dollars, you'll receive a “Freedom’s Village, Get Out the Vote" sticker with a link to the campaign, so you can let your friends know you're part of the team!
For $20 dollars, you'll receive a poster for the film, with the names of all the backers on it, as a thank you to everyone who is part of this project.
With a $25 donation, you'll be given a special link to stream the film when it's completed!
For a $35 donation,, you'll receive a downloadable collection of songs used in the movie's soundtrack when the film is completed.
At the $50 level, you'll receive a link to download a documentary about the making of the movie.
At the $75 level, your name will be listed in the special thanks credits of the finished film!
With a donation of $100, you'll be invited to be an extra in the film, scheduled to shoot in summer 2022! (This perk is only the invitation; it is up to the backer whether or not they actually show up to set. Travel, lodging and food are the responsibility of the backer.)
Back this project at the $150 level, and you'll receive a ticket to the Memphis premiere of the film! (Travel, lodging and food are the responsibility of the backer.)
If you back us at the $500 level, you will be given a Crowdfunding Associate Producer credit in the finished film! (This does not give the backer any financial participation in the film.)
If you back us at the $1000 level, you will be given a Crowdfunding Co-Producer credit in the finished film! (This does not give the backer any financial participation in the film.)
If you back us at the $2000 level, you will be given a Crowdfunding Executive Producer credit in the finished film! (This does not give the backer any financial participation in the film.)
