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Events to explore contemporary civil rights issues

April 5, 2005

“The U.S. Voting Rights Act of 1965 at 40” is a series of events, beginning Sunday, April 10, that will bring together prominent civil rights veterans, scholars, community members, local political figures and UW–Madison students in discussions on contemporary civil rights issues in the United States and in Wisconsin.

Each speaker will present a public lecture and participate in roundtable discussions with faculty, local public figures, students and community residents. The series is made possible by Chadbourne Residential College, the Multicultural Council, the Anonymous Fund, the Wisconsin Union Directorate, Associated Students of Madison and the Harvey Goldberg Center for the Study of Contemporary History. The series is co-sponsored by those programs and by the Havens Center for the Study of Social Structure and Social Change, the departments of Afro-American Studies, Comparative Literature and History, the Chicana/o Studies Program, and the Women’s Studies Program and Research Center.

For more information and a complete schedule of events, including additional public conversations and roundtable discussions, visit http://www.housing.wisc.edu/student_orgs/crc/civilrights.html.

The series includes these events:

  • Sunday, April 10

    2 p.m., A Room of One’s Own Bookstore, 307 W. Johnson St. Catherine Fosl and Anne Braden, reading and book signing. Fosl was an activist in the 1980s women’s rights and peace movements and is the author of a 2002 biography of Anne Braden titled “Subversive Southerner: Anne Braden and the Struggle for Racial Justice in the Cold War South.” Fosl teaches women’s studies and humanities at the University of Louisville. Braden helped found the Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice, and she continues her work with the group and the Kentucky Alliance Against Racism and Repression in Louisville, Ky. An opening reception follows Braden’s presentation.

    7:30 p.m., Chadbourne Residential College Main Lounge. Anne Braden, “A Time to Organize: Drawing on the Legacy of Struggle in the Civil Rights Movement.”

  • Monday, April 11

    Noon, On Wisconsin Room, Red Gym. Anne Braden and Diane Nash present “A Public Conversation on Organizing as Women Leaders.” This brown-bag lunch features Braden and Nash, who in 1960 was one of the founding members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Nash also helped coordinate the Freedom Rides that sought to integrate interstate transportation in the south. In 1962, Nash joined the staff of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, where she helped coordinate the group’s Birmingham, Ala., direct-action campaign against segregation in public accommodations, as well as the Selma, Ala., campaign for voting rights. Nash later became involved in both the peace and the women’s rights movements.

    4 p.m., Chadbourne Residential College Main Lounge. Catherine Fosl, “White Woman, Black Power: Lessons From a History of Struggle.”

    7:30 p.m., Chadbourne Residential College Main Lounge. Diane Nash, roundtable on “Civil Rights/Human Rights: Then and Now.”

  • Tuesday, April 12

    4 p.m., Chadbourne Residential College Main Lounge. Diane Nash, a community dialog on political organizing today.

    7:30 p.m., Memorial Union Theater. Diane Nash, “Civil and Voting Rights in the 1960s: A Legacy for the 21st Century.”

  • Wednesday, April 13

    7 p.m., Wisconsin Historical Society auditorium. “Home of the Brave” screening and discussion with Mary Liuzzo. “Home of the Brave” is an award-winning 2004 documentary about the 1965 murder of Viola Liuzzo in Alabama during the voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery. The film offers a history of the Selma movement that resulted in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Mary Liuzzo Lilibeo, the daughter of Viola Liuzzo, will speak about the film and the impact of her mother’s work.

  • Thursday, April 14

    4 p.m., Chadbourne Residential College Main Lounge. Dolores Huerta leads a roundtable discussion with campus and community leaders. Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez in 1962. Her recent service includes participation on the University of California Board of Regents, where she has been an outspoken proponent for diversity and outreach programs. A closing reception will follow Huerta’s presentation.

    7:30 p.m., 6210 Social Sciences Building. Dolores Huerta presents “Community Empowerment: Getting Involved!” A closing reception follows.