Civil Rights Activism from Yesterday to Today

November 2, 2023

As a life-long activist, Dr. Zoharah Simmons worked with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and spent seven years working full-time on voter registration and desegregation activities in Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. She has spent her life focused on human rights, including 23 years with the American Friends Service Committee and as an assistant professor a religion focused on Islamic law and its impact on contemporary Muslim women.

This is sure to be a fascinating conversation with a powerful force in the work toward a more just, equitable, and peaceful society.

Special Guest

Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons retired as assistant professor of religion at the University of Florida, where her primary academic focus was on Islamic law and its impact on contemporary Muslim women. Dr. Simmons has a long history in the area of civil rights, human rights, and peace work. For 23 years, she was on the staff of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker peace, justice, human rights, and international development organization headquartered in Philadelphia. During her early adult years as a college student and, thereafter, Dr. Simmons was active with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and spent seven years working full-time on voter registration and desegregation activities in Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

Moderator

Gordon Gibson has been involved in organizing and leading pilgrimages to civil rights sites since 2004. During the first weeks after Gordon was ordained, he was in Selma, Alabama, taking part in early phases of the 1965 voting rights campaign there. He also brings his experience of living in Mississippi 1969-1984 when he was the Unitarian Universalist minister in the state. For seven of those years, he was also an investigator for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In retirement, Judy and Gordon Gibson live in Knoxville, Tennessee. Gordon is the author of Southern Witness: Unitarians and Universalists in the Civil Rights Era, an engaging account of the roles that UU individuals and congregations played in the civil rights movement in the South in the 1950s and '60s. Gordon currently serves as a member of the Board and as the LLP historian.

General Information about the 2023 Spring Education Series

All three programs will be broadcast on Zoom. Register to receive the Zoom link.

Family Revealed: From Slavery to Hope
Thursday, September 28, 2023

The Movement Made Us
Thursday, October 12, 2023

Civil Rights Activism from Yesterday to Today
Thursday, November 2, 2023

Programs start at 4:30 pm PT, 5:30 pm MT, 6:30 pm CT, 7:30 pm ET and run for one-hour, followed by a half-hour question and answer post-discussion.

All programs are free and open to the public. Minimum suggested donation is $15 per program ($45 total) and it's never too late to donate! You can register for 1, 2, or all 3 programs!

Your donations make it possible for the Living Legacy Project to continue to bring you relevant programming like this series and make them available to all, regardless of economic circumstances. Please give generously.