Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round

When five Black college students sat on a segregated Maryland carousel in 1960, their arrests made headlines. When the Jewish community near Glen Echo Amusement Park joined the protest, a history-making interracial demonstration was born. The cause, and the collaboration, provoked counterprotests by the American Nazi party, and brought Congressmen and national leaders to the picket line.  Picketing together led to partying together, union bosses mentored student activists, and ten 1961 Freedom Riders emerged, including Stokely Carmichael. 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. Featuring the voices of Jeffrey Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Bob Balaban, Lee Grant, Peter Gallagher, Dominique Thorne, Alysia Reiner,  and Tracie Thoms.