‘The Loyola Project’ screened in Jackson Sunday

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - On Sunday, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, as well as the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, hosted a special screening of the film ‘The Loyola Project.’

The film is a documentary about the ‘Game of Change,’ a history-making game in 1963 between the all-white Mississippi State Bulldogs and integrated Loyola Chicago Ramblers, that contributed to the desegregation of college basketball.

That season, the Ramblers played four black players, which, at the time, caused a stir across the country. Against the demands of then governor Ross Barnett, the Bulldogs flew to play the Ramblers in the NCAA tournament.

“This is one of the great sports stories in America, and when this idea came to us originally a few years ago, someone brought this idea to us, I had never heard of it, I didn’t know anything about it,” said director Patrick Creadon. “The more I started reading about it and doing research about it, I realized, how do people not really know this story? They know it in Mississippi, because a big part of it happened here in Mississippi, but on a national level, people didn’t really know this story. I’m really excited to be here in Mississippi, in Jackson, to share it with the local community.”

The film was completed about a year ago, and since then has been screened in communities and at schools across the country.

“The reason it’s so important to show this movie and share this story in Jackson, in the state of Mississippi, is that some of the most important struggles of the Civil Rights happened right here in Mississippi,” Creadon said. “This was really kind of ground zero for the Civil Rights Movement, and all that came and grew out of that. 60 years later, we’re still trying to figure out issues around race. It’s hard, you know, and we haven’t quite figured it out yet.”

The film runs about 90 minutes, and is available to watch on Paramount+. Schools and organizations interested in screening the film can request it on the film’s website, or by emailing admin@ocpmedia.com.

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