The Armenian Studies Program web page is sponsored by a grant from
The Bertha and John Garabedian Charitable
Foundation, Fresno.
On Friday, October 24 the
CineCulture campus and community film series featured Hrag Yedalian’s film, The
People’s Advocate: The Life
& Times of Charles R. Garry, an hour-long
documentary about Charles R. Garry (Garabedian). Garry was one of the most
influential
criminal defense attorneys of the twentieth century, who became a
household name during the 1960s with his defense of revolutionary
political
icons like Huey Newton and Bobby Seale of the Black Panther Party.
This year the CineCulture
series became a regular class
in the University curriculum, offered through the
Department of Mass Communications and Journalism, and taught by Prof. Mary
Husain.
Community members join in watching the films and in the discussions.
Following the screening,
Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian was the guest
discussant for the film.
Yedalian’s film was
exciting and vibrant and gave the audience insight into Garry’s life. Garry was
born into
a very poor family. His mother and father settled in
Later Garry moved to
Garry defended twenty-four
murder cases during
his career, winning them all.
An outspoken advocate for
the underdog, Garry’s career came to an unexpected and tragic halt in 1978
when
his client, the Rev. Jim Jones of the
Charles Garry was one of
the finest lawyers on the streets of
