Robin Fryday Photography

Information may not be reliable

–Mr. James Armstrong, The Barber of Birmingham
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement is an independent documentary film produced and directed by Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin. A website specific to the film will be designed when the project is further developed.
This character driven film features Mr. James Armstrong, an 85-year old African American barber living in Birmingham, Alabama. Mr. Armstrong's story, along with the personal recollections of other aging "foot soldiers" of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Movements in Birmingham and Selma provide the bedrock of the film. The documentary will bring the harsh reality of the disenfranchisement of African Americans in the South prior to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act into direct connection with the recent election of the first African American president. These courageous unsung heroes of history speak with unprecedented integrity about the struggles they faced and the courage it took for them to claim what should have been rightfully theirs without a fight: the right to vote. None would have imagined voting for and witnessing the election of a black president in their lifetime.