C. J. Janovy, author of No Place Like Home: Lessons in Activism from LGBT Kansas, and Kevin Willmott, director of the documentary film based on the book, will speak at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library.
Most of Oscar-winner Kevin Willmott’s films, like BlacKkKlansman and Chi-Raq, have dealt with the struggles of Black Americans. But he writes, directing the 2023 documentary sequel to C.J. Janovy’s award-winning book of the same name, No Place Like Home, with its focus on LGBTQ rights, allowed him to expand upon his “belief that all these struggles have the same opponent – ignorance.”
Willmott and Janovy will discuss with the Library’s Anne Kniggendorf how those who fight against progress for African Americans, women, and immigrants are the same ones who oppose the LGBTQ community. They talk about what they learned from the Kansans interviewed in the documentary, the types of changes they anticipate, and tell some stories that didn’t make it into the documentary.
University of Kansas film professor Willmott is the director of 14 feature films and a Kansas native. Janovy is a veteran journalist and director of content at Kansas City’s NPR affiliate, KCUR 89.3.
Admission to this event is free. Please RSVP at the library’s website: https://kclibrary.org/events/no-place-home-struggle-against-hate-kansas
