NAACP Chairman Julian Bond addresses
Civil Rights: Then and Now during Racial Legacies
and Learning XI: How To Talk About Race Town
Meeting, Wednesday, February 25, beginning at
7:00 p.m. in Parrish Auditorium on the campus
of Miami University Hamilton. The event is free
and open to the public.
Known for being on the cutting edge of politics,
Bond brings to the stage more than 20 years
of service in the Georgia General Assembly where,
for two terms, he was prevented from taking
his seat by members who objected to his opposition
to the Vietnam Conflict. Eloquently outspoken,
Bond has been active in civil rights movements
and the fight for economic justice since 1960
when he was a founding member of the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) while
a student at Morehouse College. He has served
as Chairman of the NAACP since 1998. He currently
teaches history at the University of Virginia.
|
|
|
According to Racial Legacies committee member,
Dr. Mark Christian, who also is assistant professor
of sociology and gerontology at Miami University
Hamilton, "Mr. Julian Bond is a civil rights
pioneer and one of the few individuals with
the courage to speak truth to power regarding
racial and other forms of discrimination in
society. He is socially concerned with the massive
problems of urban poverty and insidious forms
of racism. I am very confident that Mr. Bond
will provide much food for thought when he speaks
at Miami University Hamilton and I urge all
to attend."
Dr. Robert Rusbosin, associate executive director
of Miami Hamilton explains that the focus for
this eleventh town meeting is the civil rights
movement and the need for economic justice in
contemporary society. Miami University Hamilton,
the City of Hamilton and the Center for American
and World Culture of Miami University is sponsoring
the event, which encourages audience participation
through a question and answer segment of the
program.
In addition to Mr. Bond, two local champions
of civil rights will be recognized and honored
for their distinctive roles as activists in
Ohio—Reverend Dr. Norman Townsel, pastor
of Pilgrim Baptist Church in Hamilton; and Reverend
Vanessa Cummings, assistant director of parking
and transportation at Miami University and associate
pastor of Bethel AME Church, Lockland. The Racial
Legacies and Learning Committee also will recognize
five area organizations for their best practices
in diversity initiatives. The organizations
are The Fort Hamilton Hospital, Neighborhood
Housing Services of Hamilton, International
Paper Hamilton Hill, and the Fitton Center for
Creative Arts.
|
