BOONE - The Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies, the Center for Appalachian Studies, as well as the Africana Studies Program, Black Faculty and Student Association, Black Student Association, the College of Arts and Sciences and a number of other organizations and departments around the Appalachian State University campus are hosting a three part series on the voices of the Civil Rights Movement, April 25 through April 26.
The program will begin Monday, April 25, 7pm, with a lecture by Charles E. Cobb, Jr., entitled "This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible" at the Plemmons Student Union's Blue Ridge Ballroom, Room 201 AB. The lecture is free and open to the public. In this lecture Cobb will explore the complex relationship between the civil rights movement's early commitment to nonviolence and the long tradition of African American armed self-defense against the terror of white supremacy.
Charles E. Cobb, Jr., is a distinguished journalist and inductee of the National Association of Black Journalists' Hall of Fame. He served as field secretary in Mississippi from 1962 to 1967 for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the most influential youth and student organization during the Civil Rights Movement. He was involved in the organizing and conducting of Freedom Summer in 1964, which brought numerous civil rights organization together to register African-American Mississippian voters and hold Freedom Schools. He worked closely with all of the key figures in SNCC and the movement, ranging from John Lewis and Courtland Cox to Jim Forman and Stokely Carmichael. He is the co-author, with fellow activist Bob Moses, of Radical Equations, Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project (2001) and also wrote On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail (2008).
On Tuesday morning, April 26, Cobb will be joined by musician, organizer and activist Si Kahn, founder of Grassroots Leadership, a non-profit organization in support of prison reform and violence prevention, as well as current Appalachian student activists for a panel on African-American and Jewish organizers in the struggle against racism during the 1960s and today. The panel will take place at 10:30 a.m. in the Greenbriar Theater, Plemmons Student Union (PSU), Room 200. This event is free and open to the public.
On Tuesday, April 26, at 7:30 pm, the series will culminate with a fundraising event at the Jones House. Si Kahn will read and perform songs from his two most recent programs, Hope and Precious Memories. Dr. William Schumann, director of the Center for Appalachian Studies and Dr. Thomas Kaplan, director of the Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies, will introduce guests to the work of their respective centers in order to invite conversation about the role of the university in supporting inclusive, sustainable community development.
To join for this special event, a suggested minimum donation of $50 per ticket should be mailed to either center prior to the event. Contributors of $100 or more will receive an autographed copy of Si Kahn's latest book Creative Community Organizers: A Guide for Rabble-Rousers, Activists and Quiet Lovers of Justice.Benefiting the Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies and the Center for Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University, this intimate get-together limited to 40 people will explore the role of history and memory in the pursuit of social justice. Refreshments and hors d'oeuvres will be served.
A receipt for the value of your charitable donation will be mailed back with your tickets. Please mail your check for $50 or more to either of the following addresses:
Center for Appalachian Studies Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies
ASU Box 32018 ASU Box 32146
Boone, NC 28607 Boone, NC 28607
For additional information, contact the Center for Appalachian Studies at 828-262-2551 or the Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies at 828-262-2311.