Efforts by Nashville’s civil rights activists were key to the historic national struggle for civil rights. On Friday, April 30, members of Nashville’s movement will gather at Vanderbilt University to discuss their experiences, key issues and how the Civil Rights Movement can be used as a model for furthering social change today.
The discussion is open to the public and will be held in the auditorium of Vanderbilt’s Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center . The event is the spring conference for the university’s American Studies Program . The schedule is as follows:
1:30 to 3:15 p.m. First Session – “Paths into the Movement and Actions Taken”
3:30 to 5 p.m. Second Session – “How the Movement Changed Participant Biographies and Political Culture”
5 to 6 p.m. Concluding Reception
The Rev. James Lawson, Distinguished University Professor at Vanderbilt and a key strategist of the Civil Rights Movement, and Larry Isaac, Vanderbilt professor of sociology, will moderate the discussion that will include civil rights leaders Bernard Lafayette, Kwame Leo Lillard, E. Rip Patton, Charles Sherrod, Matthew Walker and others.
For more information about the program, call (615) 343-8724.