Topic: Civil Rights

Dare Not Walk Alone explores the civil rights struggle through St. Augustine, Florida

September 2, 2009 |

The Customs House Museum and Austin Peay State University presents “Dare Not Walk Alone” with Producer/Director Jeremy Dean as part of the Southern Arts Federation’s Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers at 2 pm on September 12th in the museum’s auditorium. Following a screening of his documentary, “Dare Not Walk Alone,” Dean will engage the audience in a panel discussion sponsored by the Wilbur N. Daniel African American Cultural Center. A reception with the filmmaker is scheduled immediately following the discussion.

On June 18, 1964 a white hotel owner in St. Augustine, Florida, poured acid in a swimming pool filled with black and white youth conducting a civil rights demonstration. Photographs of this horrific incident were on the front page of every major newspaper around the world and broke the filibuster in the Senate allowing President Johnson to sign the Civil Rights Act into law. With rarely seen news footage and revealing interviews, “Dare Not Walk Alone” uncovers the untold story of the St. Augustine movement that led to this historic legislation. But far from a history lesson, the film also looks at the aftermath of desegregation and the grim realities of life today on streets where those campaigns were fought, in a place that symbolizes what Barack Obama has called “the gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of our time.” This film has been called the “Civil Rights film for the modern age” and in the end we see signs of hope and reconciliation as well as a challenge to take the next step forward.

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Sections: Arts and Leisure | No Comments

National Civil Rights Leaders Gather for Environmental Racism Rally

By Terry McMoore | September 1, 2009 |

Celebrating 100 Years of Social Justice

On September 5, 2009 Civil Rights Leaders from across the nation will gather on the grounds of the Memorial Building Mayors Office at 202 Center Avenue in Dickson, Tennessee for an all day rally from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Dickson is home to one of the worst Environmental Racism cases in the history of the United States. The Holt family has been fighting for the past 10 years to bring justice and awareness to the contaminated water leaked from the county landfill. For years, the family unknowingly drank poisoned water, bathed in that water, and cooked with that water which has resulted in numerous members of the family developing cancer and even dying. «Read the rest of this article»

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A new hero enters Tennessee’s history books

By Bernie Ellis | June 21, 2009 |

Every Tennessee school child learns early on that our state has been blessed with heros throughout its history. Davy Crockett at the Alamo, Alvin York in the trenches of World War I Europe – we continue to revere the honorable people who sprang from our hills and hollows with the in-borne courage to do the next right thing when they were called on to do so. There are three other heros – two long-gone now and one who is still very much alive – who helped expand our franchise and, in the process, helped save our democracy. The two deceased heros were Harry Burn and Ben West. The third hero, the one who still walks among us, is Senator Tim Burchett of Knoxville.

Harry Burn was a first-term Republican state representative from McMinn county, the youngest Tennessee state legislator serving in 1920 when women’s suffrage hung in the balance in our state. Back then, only one state was needed to ratify the Nineteenth amendment to the US Constitution, an amendment that would give women the right to vote. Like many legislators at the time, Representative Burn was under extreme pressure from sexist politicians back home to oppose the amendment, to keep women “in their place”. Some even believed that Rep. Burn was a safe bet to vote against suffrage, since he wore a red rose on his lapel, a color then (and now) that represented exclusion and disenfranchisement. But as the pivotal vote approached, «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Commentary | 2 Comments

Center for Community Change to facilitate community meeting.

By Terry McMoore | March 1, 2009 |

“How Will President Obama’s Economic Recovery Bill Affect the African American Community?” The answers can be found in community discussions to be held on  March 5 at the Montgomery County Public Library, 350 Pageant Lane, Clarksville, from 6-8 p.m.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is hosted by the Urban Resource Center and its director, Terry McMoore, in partnership with the Center for Community Change.

Over the next 5 years a half a billion dollars in job training money will be coming to Clarksville. Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC) will open a new plant in Clarksville that will hire over 1,000 construction workers to build, and provide over 800 permanent high paying jobs when they open. HSC will be one of the richest employers in Clarksville’s history since the arrival of Fort Campbell in the 1940s. «Read the rest of this article»

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NAACP congratulates the RNC and its new Chairman, Michael S. Steele

February 5, 2009 |

In a press release from its Washington DC bureau office, the NAACP has issued congratulations to the Republican National Committee and its newly elected Chairman, Michael S. Steele, the first African American to hold that lofty position.

Statement on the historic election of Michael Steele as RNC Chairman:

The NAACP congratulates the Republican National Committee (RNC) on the historic election of Michael Steele as its new Chairman. Mr. Steele is an experienced, principled leader and a friend of the NAACP. He has been supportive, over the years, of civil rights issues and has worked on behalf of affirmative action initiatives that support closing the gap of economic disparities that exist nationwide. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Education, News, Politics | 2 Comments

MLK March 2009 honors advocate for civil, human rights

By Christine Anne Piesyk | January 19, 2009 |

On the eve of the inauguration of the nation’s first African American president, Barack Obama, Clarksvillian’s today celebrated and honored one of the country’s foremost civil rights leaders, the late Martin Luther King Jr.

The March after leaving Public Square

Today, Martin Luther King’s fight for equality and justice was commemorated with a a parade that culminated with  formal ceremonies at Public Square in downtown Clarksville, and in front of the Criminal Justice Complex. «Read the rest of this article»

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WomenforObama celebrate women suffrage 88th anniversary

By Turner McCullough Jr. | September 26, 2008 |

Clarksville Women For Obama

Celebration marks 88th anniversary of passage of 19th Amendment. Tennessee’s ratification, as the 33rd state to do so, made the law effective. Many women made great sacrifices to make this legislation the law of the land. It is one of many fronts in the struggle for civil rights.

WomenForObama held a celebratory commemoration of the 88th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It was the 19th Amendment which gave women in the United States the right to vote. The Montgomery County Democratic Party Headquarters was the celebration site with a roster of prominent local women speakers who addressed the significance of women suffrage and civil rights in the furtherance of the American Ideal.

Motivational speaker Cindy Pitts with moderator Wanda McMoore

Wanda McMoore was the event moderator. As a mother, nurse, military service veteran and community organizer, she was a prime example of the women in times past who have fought for equality and justice while still balancing the demands of a family and career. She introduced each speaker and kept the event moving along on schedule. «Read the rest of this article»

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History Conference coming to APSU

September 18, 2008 |

Austin Peay State University is hosting the 24th annual  Ohio Valley History Conference on October 31 and November 1.  Six universities rotate hosting the conference:  Murray State University, Western Kentucky University, Eastern Kentucky University, East Tennessee State University, Tennessee Technological University and APSU.

John Seigenthaler, Sr.

John Seigenthaler, Sr., host of NPT’s “A Word on Words,” will give the keynote address on Oct. 31 and a professor from Tennessee State University will speak about music and the Civil Rights movement at the Saturday luncheon.

The two day interdisciplinary event will consist of approximately 45 different sessions. Most sessions consist of three papers followed by commentary and question and answers.  Professors and advanced graduate students from across the United States will present papers of original research on a variety of historical topics. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Education, Events, News, Politics | No Comments

NAACP to host 62nd State Convention and Civil Rights Conference in Clarksville

By Terry McMoore | September 13, 2008 |

Austin Peay State University will host a portion of the 62nd Annual NAACP State Convention and Civil Rights Conference on September 27 at the APSU Morgan University Center. The entire conference will run from September 25-27.

NAACP Hosts 62nd Annual State Convention in Clarksville, TN

The Saturday session of the conference begins at 7:30 a.m. with a breakfast for W. I. N. (Women in the NAACP) and the youth. After breakfast, the conference continues with a variety of workshops for both adults and youth. At noon there will be an awards luncheon followed by more workshops. The evening concludes with the Freedom Awards Banquet beginning at 6:30 p.m. «Read the rest of this article»

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Introducing Benjamin Jealous, the new President of the NAACP‏

By Terry McMoore | September 12, 2008 |

New NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous

Benjamin Todd Jealous is president-elect of the NAACP, the nations oldest civil rights organization. When he assumes office in September 2008, the former news executive, activist and Rhodes scholar will be the youngest president and CEO in the organization’s 99-year history.

Currently, Jealous is President of the Rosenberg Foundation, a private independent institution that supports advocacy efforts on behalf of California’s working families. Under his leadership, the Foundation has significantly expanded its support of groups working to expand employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated people, as well as those that work to make economic development in the Bay Area more accountable to local residents’ needs.

Previously, Jealous served as Director of the U.S. Human Rights Program at Amnesty International. While at Amnesty, he led its efforts to pass federal legislation against prison rape, rebuild public consensus against racial profiling in the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks, and expose the widespread sentencing of children to life without the possibility of parole. «Read the rest of this article»

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