Lehigh University will host a screening of Kemba, a film based on the true story of Kemba Smith, on Thursday, February 20, at the Zoellner Arts Center’s Black Box Theatre. The event will feature a discussion moderated by Aika Aluc, a PhD student in the Department of Community and Population Health in Lehigh’s College of Health, and include other dynamic voices from Lehigh and the surrounding community. This event is free and open to the public. Free parking will be provided.
The event is the fourth installment of the 2024-25 Equality & Justice on Screen film series presented by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee at Lehigh. Small bites catered by The Bayou will be served at 4:45 p.m., with the film beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Zoellner Arts Center is located at 420 E Packer Ave, Bethlehem, PA 18015. Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley (PNLV) is a community-based film sponsor.
Kemba tells the powerful story of a college student whose life takes a dramatic turn when she falls in love with a man who conceals his true identity as a drug kingpin. Despite never directly participating in his illegal activities, Kemba receives a harsh sentence due to her association with him, thrusting her into the center of the government’s “war on drugs.” The film depicts Kemba Smith's resilience and the tireless efforts of her parents, an NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorney, and a coalition of Black civic organizations, sororities, celebrities, and lawmakers who fought for her freedom. The film explores themes of love, betrayal, injustice, and the power of community advocacy.
Smith, who also serves as an executive producer on the film, is a presidential clemency recipient, criminal justice consultant, advocate, public speaker, and author of Poster Child: The Kemba Smith Story.
Attendees are invited to stay after the screening for a moderated discussion with special guests. This discussion will provide an opportunity to delve deeper into the film’s themes and explore the broader issues surrounding criminal justice reform.
“I am inspired to continue to connect with champions across Lehigh University, such as Dr. Taneka Jones and Dr. Fathima Wakeel, and the broader Lehigh community,” says Aluc. Jones is a co-organizer of the event and a research assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering in the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science. Wakeel is an associate professor of population health in the College of Health. “Through this screening, we hope to foster a critical conversation about how Dr. King’s call for a ‘radical revolution of values’ remains as relevant today as it was in 1967,” Aluc continues. “These spaces and sharing stories fuel us and support collective action moving forward.”
“In times of uncertainty,” says Jones, “I am reinvigorated by my faith, purpose-driven work, and continued collaborative efforts with students and faculty members across the campus, including Dr. Wakeel and Aika Aluc. In the words of Dr. King: ‘We can all get more together than we can apart; we can get more organized together than we can apart. And this is the way we gain power.”
The fifth and final installment of the 2024-25 Justice & Equality Film Series will feature Slavery in the Age of Revolution on Tuesday, March 25, at ArtsQuest in South Bethlehem.
