“Dying to Vote” Documentary Screening set for Nov. 4 on USM Hattiesburg Campus

Wed, 10/23/2024 - 02:07pm | By: Dr. David Tisdale

A free screening of the documentary “Dying to Vote” will be held Monday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Joe Paul Theater, located in the Thad Cochran Center on The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Hattiesburg campus. Members of the University and local communities are invited to attend.

“Dying to Vote” centers on the story of those who died in their quest for voter equality during the American Civil Rights Movement, particularly Vernon Dahmer, a civil rights activist and Hattiesburg area resident who was murdered in 1968 by members of the Ku Klux Klan because he was registering African Americans to vote in Mississippi. A Soulidify Production film, “Dying to Vote” is directed and written by Loki Mulholland, the Emmy-winning director of “The Uncomfortable Truth.” 

Klan members shot at and firebombed the Dahmer home and destroyed his store in the attack; Vernon Dahmer later died of injuries he suffered from the incident. The film further examines the history of voter intimidation and suppression, and features commentary from Dahmer’s son, Dennis Dahmer, and U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, who chaired the Jan. 6 Committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021. Dennis Dahmer will be on hand as a guest speaker for the screening.

This presentation of “Dying to Vote” is supported by USM’s Center for Human Rights and Civil Liberties and the Students for Human Rights chapter; the Office of the Provost; and the Office of Community and Belonging; and the College of Arts and Sciences.

For more information, contact Dr. Bob Press, professor of political science and an affiliate faculty member in the USM Center for Human Rights.