Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
It was 50 years ago that Rochester was rocked by three-days of rioting that erupted in two predominantly African American neighborhoods. A number of factors contributed to the violence, including a lack of job opportunities for African Americans, overcrowding and allegations of police brutality.This series not only looks back at the issues that led to the rioting 50 years ago, but looks forward at issues still impacting that same community and whether we could ever see something like that happen again.

Connections: Reflecting on July 1964

This is a special double-length show as we come up on the 50th anniversary of the race riots in Rochester, and some would call part of the events a riot, and other parts a rebellion. The underlying issues at the roots of the disturbances were highlighted in the documentary "July '64"

The film was made 10 years ago and was directed by Carvin Eison and produced by Chris Christopher. Both were guests to discuss the making of the flim, what they learned in the creation of the film, and the progress that has been made 10 years later. 

WXXI-TV will air "July '64" at these times:

Monday, July 21 at 9 p.m.

Sunday, July 27 at 11 p.m.

City12 will air "July '64" Thursday, July 24 at 10 p.m.

The Little Theatre will have a free screening of "July '64" Sunday, July 20 at 6:30 p.m.

Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.