ITHACA, NY (607NewsNow) — During Black History Month, Ithaca native Ira McKinley will be presenting a screening of two of his films with a sneak peak of a third on Saturday, February 28th at 2:00 p.m.

“The Throwaways“, “Outta the Muck“, and a 15-minute preview of “A Tale of Two Journeys” will be shown. McKinley’s films have won multiple awards and accolades, including Best Documentary Award at the Long Beach Indie Film Festival and the New York Hi-Light Award at the Harlem International Film Festival for “The Throwaways”.

McKinley has been making films since 2009 and started while living in a homeless shelter for veterans in Northampton, MA.

“The library is a common place for homeless people to go to get warm and find shelter, and I realized I could start using the access to books and information to my advantage. It gave me the resources to be able to create,” says McKinley.

Winning Producer of the Year at Northampton’s Homeless Artist Showcase that year, he began his journey into activism, and used film as a way to document it. Moving to Albany around 2012 to help take care of his sick mother, he started filming “The Throwaways”, a film about mass incarceration and police brutality.

“Everywhere I went, I felt like I was being thrown away, which is why I decided on that name for the film,” he says. “My films document things I’ve been through and the systematic treatment of Black people I’ve witnessed firsthand. I’ve experienced police brutality myself, and my father was shot and killed by a police officer when I was 14 years old. I want my work to open people’s eyes to the reality of what I’ve been through and what other Black people and people of color have been expressing for decades.”

McKinley has seen Ithaca through many phases, and sees how it’s changed since the days when he was attending school here.

“I watched the gentrification of the south side of Ithaca as it happened. It’s easy for people who are from this area and being pushed out to have their voices go unheard, but I’ve never been afraid of speaking my mind. I want my films to document the struggles people here, and in the United States as a whole, go through.”

Hear WHCU’s Joe Salzone talk with Ira McKinley on 607 This Morning here:

Find more information on the screenings and films here.