Who Knew? Civil Rights Activists Who Led the Movement from Behind the Scenes
Join us for an enlightening series of webinars that shed light on the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. These five activists worked tirelessly behind the scenes to advance the cause of racial equality and social justice. Through their dedication and perseverance, they made significant contributions that helped shape the course of history.
September 25th, 2024: Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons
Join us for an enlightening series of webinars that shed light on the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. These five activists worked tirelessly behind the scenes to advance the cause of racial equality and social justice. Through their dedication and perseverance, they made significant contributions that helped shape the course of history.
September 25th, 2024: Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons
Join the Rev. Dr. Gordon Gibson as he talks with Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons about her involvement in Freedom Summer of 1964, building freedom schools and libraries in black communities in Mississippi, registering voters, and working on desegregation in Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama during the height of the Civil Rights Movement.
SPEAKERS
Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons
Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons (Gwen Robinson) is a long-term Peace and Social Justice Organizer that began in 1962 as a student activist in the Civil Rights Movement. She became a full-time organizer in the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, serving as Project Director for 2 years in Laurel, Miss. Simmons was a founding member of SNCC's (Student NonViolent Coordinating Committee) Atlanta Project (AP) in Atlanta, GA. The AP was instrumental in developing the theoretical foundation of the Black Power thrust within SNCC. The AP launched a major Anti-Draft movement and work to end the War in Vietnam. She worked for 23 years with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) on Peace and Social Justice issues, on an End to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, an End to South African Apartheid, an End to US COINTEL Surveillance Programs. As an AFSC Rep, she was a member of delegations to Vietnam post the US War on Vietnam and two delegations to Palestine, Israel, and the surrounding countries working to End the Occupation.
Simmons returned to the University in the late 1980s to finish the education she had cut short to work full-time in the Movements for Peace and Justice. She completed her BA, MA, & Ph.D. graduating in 2002 and began teaching Islamic Studies, African American & Women Studies at the University of Florida, from which she retired in 2019.
More recently, Simmons has worked with young people in the Occupy and Black Lives Matter Movements. She is a founding member of the National Council of Elders and its (M.L.) King and Breaking Silence Project and is on the Board of the SNCC Legacy Project. She is an active member of the Gainesville chapter of Jewish Voices for Peace and a founding member of UF's Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP). Simmons remains active in Peace and Social Justice work into this her 80th Year.
Simmons returned to the University in the late 1980s to finish the education she had cut short to work full-time in the Movements for Peace and Justice. She completed her BA, MA, & Ph.D. graduating in 2002 and began teaching Islamic Studies, African American & Women Studies at the University of Florida, from which she retired in 2019.
More recently, Simmons has worked with young people in the Occupy and Black Lives Matter Movements. She is a founding member of the National Council of Elders and its (M.L.) King and Breaking Silence Project and is on the Board of the SNCC Legacy Project. She is an active member of the Gainesville chapter of Jewish Voices for Peace and a founding member of UF's Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP). Simmons remains active in Peace and Social Justice work into this her 80th Year.
MODERATOR
The Rev. Dr. Gordon Gibson
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.
RESOURCES
Don't miss this opportunity to learn about the unsung heroes who played crucial roles in the Civil Rights Movement.
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by Dan Berger
The story of Zoharah and Michael Simmons. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews, Stayed On Freedom is a moving and intimate portrait of two people trying to make a life while working to make a better world. |
Visit our bookstore to read about all these important figures:
Who Knew? 2024 Education Series Booklist - Bookshop.org
Who Knew? 2024 Education Series Booklist - Bookshop.org
Register now and join us in honoring their legacy.
All programs will be held on Zoom at 4:30 pm PT, 5:30 MT, 6:30 CT, and 7:30 ET. These webinars are free and open to the public, but registration is required. Donations are appreciated to support our ongoing educational efforts.
All programs will be held on Zoom at 4:30 pm PT, 5:30 MT, 6:30 CT, and 7:30 ET. These webinars are free and open to the public, but registration is required. Donations are appreciated to support our ongoing educational efforts.
Please note that program dates are subject to change. Registered participants will be notified of any changes. Recordings of the webinars will be available for on-demand viewing for those unable to attend live.