Highlander Center's Legacy of Justice
Join us for an inspiring webinar exploring the history of the Highlander Center, a vital hub for social change since 1932. From its role in the labor movement and civil rights era--training leaders like Rosa Parks and members of SNCC and teaching songs like "We Shall Overcome—to its enduring impact on grassroots organizing, this webinar will illuminate Highlander’s rich legacy of justice and education.
This webinar is Part 1 of two parts about The Highlander Research and Education Center. Join us on May 21 for Highlander Center Today: Organizing for the Future.
This webinar is Part 1 of two parts about The Highlander Research and Education Center. Join us on May 21 for Highlander Center Today: Organizing for the Future.
SPEAKER
James "Sparky" Rucker
JAMES "SPARKY" RUCKER has been singing songs and telling stories from the American tradition for over fifty years. Sparky performs with his wife, Rhonda Rucker, adding vocals, guitar, banjo, and spoons to their music. They appeared on the Grammy-nominated CD, Singing Through the Hard Times, in 2009. Sparky has released sixteen albums, and their 1991 release, Treasures and Tears, was nominated for the W.C. Handy Award for Best Traditional Recording.
Sparky's performing credits include the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and the International Storytelling Festival as well as NPR's Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, and Morning Edition. Other performing credits include the American Folk Blues Tour in Europe and the National Folk Festival at Wolf Trap.
Sparky's unique renditions of John Henry and Jesse James were used in the National Geographic Society’s 1994 video entitled Storytelling in North America. He also performed in Carry It On and Amazing Grace: Music in America, two videos produced by the Public Broadcasting System.
Sparky's performing credits include the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and the International Storytelling Festival as well as NPR's Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, and Morning Edition. Other performing credits include the American Folk Blues Tour in Europe and the National Folk Festival at Wolf Trap.
Sparky's unique renditions of John Henry and Jesse James were used in the National Geographic Society’s 1994 video entitled Storytelling in North America. He also performed in Carry It On and Amazing Grace: Music in America, two videos produced by the Public Broadcasting System.
The Rev. Allyn Maxfield-Steele
REV. ALLYN MAXFIELD-STEELE has been Co-Executive Director of the Highlander Research and Education Center since 2017. Raised in Texas, Germany, and North Carolina, he was born into a family of educators, farmers, secretaries, salesmen, veterans, hotel night-shift managers, social workers, and small-town Protestant church folk of the southern Piedmont and southern Atlantic coast. Between 2002-2004, he had the opportunity to live with and learn alongside organizers and leaders from the people’s movements of Northeast Thailand. That experience transformed Allyn’s understanding of the power and purpose of education. Since then, his movement work has focused on connecting people and grassroots communities to one another through high school and college education, faith and spiritual leadership, and organizing on a range of frontlines throughout the US South and Appalachia. He is committed to figuring out how people and organizations transform together and, in particular, how rural people can work together to teach everyone else how to build powerful movements. Allyn received a BA in History from Wofford College and an MDiv from Vanderbilt Divinity School. He is ordained clergy with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Allyn lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina with his spouse, Erin, and their two children, Ursa and Ellis.
MODERATOR
Dr. Pamela Zappardino
Pamela Zappardino holds a doctoral degree in Psychology from the University of RI and is a graduate of Leadership RI and Leadership Maryland. She serves on the Boards of Common Ground on the Hill, Rape Crisis Intervention Services of Carroll County, the Carroll County NAACP, the Community Foundation of Carroll County and the Living Legacy Project as well as on the steering committees of the WMC Heritage Society at McDaniel College and Carroll Citizens for Racial Equality. She has been on the Carroll County Public Schools’ Council for Multicultural Education for 15 years.
Register now!
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.