DURHAM, NC – North Carolina Central University (NCCU) School of Law will host a special screening and panel discussion for the acclaimed PBS documentary Becoming Thurgood: America’s Social Architect on Tuesday, Aug. 26, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Great Hall and Moot Courtroom at 640 Nelson Street in Durham.
A Powerful Story Told in Marshall’s Own Words
Directed by Alexis Aggrey and executive produced by Emmy Award-winner Stanley Nelson, Maryland Public Television (MPT) Senior Vice President and Chief Content Officer Travis Mitchell, and featuring music by Grammy Award-winning composer Derrick Hodge, the documentary takes a deeply personal approach.
“For the first time, audiences will hear Thurgood Marshall tell his own story — in his own words,” said Aggrey. The film draws from a rare eight-hour oral history, offering what Nelson calls “a conversation with a man whose legal mind reshaped the nation and whose legacy still echoes through our justice system today.”
NCCU Perspective in the National Conversation
The film features commentary from NCCU School of Law Professor Irving Joyner, who will also join the post-screening panel. The discussion will be moderated by Kenia Thompson, host of PBS North Carolina’s Black Issues Forum. Panelists will examine Marshall’s impact on American law, civil rights, and the essential role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in advancing legal education and social justice.
Watch the trailer
Marshall’s Legacy and Achievements
Becoming Thurgood follows Marshall’s journey from his 1908 birth in Baltimore to his years at Lincoln University and Howard University School of Law, to his groundbreaking work with the NAACP.
Marshall argued 32 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning 29 — including the 1954 landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision that ended legal segregation in public schools. In 1967, he became the first African American appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, earning the title “Mr. Civil Rights.”
The screening is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and registration is required here…