Turning Fifteen

TURNING FIFTEEN

A true coming-of-age story set in the Jim Crow South. 

When Lynda’s mother dies because the color of her skin bars her from getting a life-saving blood transfusion, Lynda and her schoolmates risk their very lives on the frontlines of Dr. King’s movement – spending more time in Alabama’s jails than classrooms. 

This dramatic series is based on Lynda Lowery’s award-winning memoir as a teenage “foot-soldier.” With 35 stitches in her skull, Lynda becomes the youngest marcher with Dr. King on the road from Selma to Montgomery.

About the project

One night, EVERYTHING CHANGES.

Lynda’s pregnant mother falls critically ill and needs an urgent blood transfusion. But the closest hospital is Whites-only. By the time they reach the Blacks-only infirmary miles away, it’s too late. Lynda overhears the adults whisper, “if she wasn’t colored, she could’ve been saved.”

Lynda’s world shatters. Segregation becomes a dagger in Lynda’s heart and she vows to make a difference, hoping that no child will ever tragically lose a parent to racism again.