Pivotal Events of the American Civil Rights Movement
A Virtual Living Legacy Pilgrimage
Our 4th Sunday speaker series, Pivotal Events of the American Civil Rights Movement: A Virtual Living Legacy Pilgrimage will introduce you to some of the amazing veterans of the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama and Mississippi.
This series will begin with a focus on the inspiring music of civil rights, then and now, and then take you on a journey through time from draconian Jim Crow laws, into Mississippi to understand the tragedy and triumph of Freedom Rides and Freedom Summer, and finally, to Selma, Alabama, and the Selma to Montgomery March for Voting Rights.
We hope you hop aboard our virtual bus and take a journey through history and into today’s new movement for civil and voting rights.
This series will begin with a focus on the inspiring music of civil rights, then and now, and then take you on a journey through time from draconian Jim Crow laws, into Mississippi to understand the tragedy and triumph of Freedom Rides and Freedom Summer, and finally, to Selma, Alabama, and the Selma to Montgomery March for Voting Rights.
We hope you hop aboard our virtual bus and take a journey through history and into today’s new movement for civil and voting rights.
Celebrate! The Music of Civil Rights
Speaker Program 1: January 24, 2021, 5:30-6:30 pm Eastern
Musicians: Crys Matthews, Melanie DeMore, and Sparky and Rhonda Rucker
The first program, which will lead off both our Speaker and Music series, features Crys Matthews, one of the brightest stars of the new generation of social justice music makers, Melanie DeMore, vocal activist and preservationist of the African American Folk Tradition, and Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, civil rights activists and folk singers. These amazing artists will share music of the Civil Rights Movement, then and now, and provide context and understanding of the role music played and continues to play in justice movements. Come sing along!
Musicians: Crys Matthews, Melanie DeMore, and Sparky and Rhonda Rucker
The first program, which will lead off both our Speaker and Music series, features Crys Matthews, one of the brightest stars of the new generation of social justice music makers, Melanie DeMore, vocal activist and preservationist of the African American Folk Tradition, and Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, civil rights activists and folk singers. These amazing artists will share music of the Civil Rights Movement, then and now, and provide context and understanding of the role music played and continues to play in justice movements. Come sing along!
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Speaker Program 2: February 28, 2021, 5:30-6:30 pm Eastern
Speaker: TBA
The Montgomery Bus Boycott officially began on December 5, 1955, four days after an African-American activist, Rosa Parks, was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person. The boycott, which was originally supposed to be a one-day event, lasted for over a year, as Black residents of Montgomery walked to work instead of taking the bus and eventually organized a complex system of carpools to help Black residents to get to where they needed to go. A local ministers group selected the new, young minister of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church to lead the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization tasked with organizing the boycott. Through his successful leadership, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. became the voice of the growing civil rights movement throughout the South.
In this program, you'll learn about the role Dr. King played in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, his life in Montgomery, and his commitment to non-violence, which set the stage for his masterful leadership in the Civil Rights Movement.
More information coming soon!
Speaker: TBA
The Montgomery Bus Boycott officially began on December 5, 1955, four days after an African-American activist, Rosa Parks, was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person. The boycott, which was originally supposed to be a one-day event, lasted for over a year, as Black residents of Montgomery walked to work instead of taking the bus and eventually organized a complex system of carpools to help Black residents to get to where they needed to go. A local ministers group selected the new, young minister of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church to lead the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization tasked with organizing the boycott. Through his successful leadership, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. became the voice of the growing civil rights movement throughout the South.
In this program, you'll learn about the role Dr. King played in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, his life in Montgomery, and his commitment to non-violence, which set the stage for his masterful leadership in the Civil Rights Movement.
More information coming soon!
Freedom Rides and Freedom Summer: The Movement in Mississippi
Speaker Program 3: March 28, 2021, 5:30-6:30 pm Eastern
Speakers: Mr. Hezekiah Watkins and Ms. Angela Lewis
This program will focus on the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi from 1961 to the present. We'll be joined by Hezekiah Watkins, the man dubbed "Mississippi’s youngest Freedom Rider" and Angela Lewis, the daughter of civil rights activist, James Chaney, who was murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, in 1964.
Mr. Watkins and Ms. Lewis will share incredible stories of courage in the struggle for justice and how the movement in Mississippi changed the course of history.
Speakers: Mr. Hezekiah Watkins and Ms. Angela Lewis
This program will focus on the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi from 1961 to the present. We'll be joined by Hezekiah Watkins, the man dubbed "Mississippi’s youngest Freedom Rider" and Angela Lewis, the daughter of civil rights activist, James Chaney, who was murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, in 1964.
Mr. Watkins and Ms. Lewis will share incredible stories of courage in the struggle for justice and how the movement in Mississippi changed the course of history.
The Selma Voting Rights Movement
Speaker Program 4: April 25, 2021, 5:30-6:30 pm Eastern
Speaker: Ms. Joanne Bland
By the time Joanne Bland was a teenager, she had been arrested countless times in Selma, Alabama, fighting for equality and voting rights for African Americans. In 1965, she participated in the Bloody Sunday March, the day police attacked peaceful protestors on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. She worked with SNCC (The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) to organize people in her home community to demand the right to vote and end police violence. And all throughout her life, she has stood up against injustice wherever she sees it.
In this program, Joanne Bland will take us to the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday and will talk about how what happened in Selma has relevance for today.
Speaker: Ms. Joanne Bland
By the time Joanne Bland was a teenager, she had been arrested countless times in Selma, Alabama, fighting for equality and voting rights for African Americans. In 1965, she participated in the Bloody Sunday March, the day police attacked peaceful protestors on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. She worked with SNCC (The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) to organize people in her home community to demand the right to vote and end police violence. And all throughout her life, she has stood up against injustice wherever she sees it.
In this program, Joanne Bland will take us to the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday and will talk about how what happened in Selma has relevance for today.
Donations are welcome to support the phenomenal guest speakers participating in the series and the ongoing work of the Living Legacy Project. Suggested donation is $15 per program. Please give as you are able -- more if you can, less if you can't.
Living Legacy Project, Inc. is now a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.
Living Legacy Project, Inc. is now a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.