Fairfield Library to show documentary on African-American basketball pioneer

The Fairfield Civic Center Library will screen a documentary for African-American Heritage Month about Don Barksdale, the Hall of Fame basketball pioneer who was the NBA’s first black All Star in the 1950s. Following the film there will be a Q&A session with the film’s director. This program is on Saturday, Feb. 27 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Bounce: The Don Barksdale Story explores the life and career of the first African-American NCAA All American, first NBA All Star, and the first to play on the men’s Olympic basketball team. After his basketball career, Mr. Barksdale became a successful entrepreneur in the music industry.

Doug Harris, the film’s director, will be on hand to discuss the film. Mr. Harris is a Berkeley native who has directed many award winning films about sports and civil rights history. The documentary Bounce brought to light a forgotten figure of basketball’s past and helped secure Mr. Barksdale’s inclusion in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

This event is free to the public thanks to the Fairfield-Suisun Friends of the Library and their generous support of library events. The library is located at 1150 Kentucky St., Fairfield. For more information call 1-866-572-7587 or visit www.solanolibrary.com.