Marching in the Arc of Justice Conference  March 6-7, 2015 

A Conference Honoring the 50th Anniversary of the Selma Voting Rights Campaign

Watch videos of a few of the workshops and special presentations from the Marching in the Arc of Justice Conference. To see all the recorded presentations, visit our channel on YouTube. 

Friday, March 6, 2015
Margaret Baldwin's Dramatic Presentation of "Night Blooms"
Playwright Margaret Baldwin presents excerpts from her play "Night Blooms" and Selma veteran, the Rev. Richard Leonard, responds. The play is based in 1965 Selma, Alabama, when a night blooming Cereus comes to life on the porch as an historic movement marches forward in the streets. And in the Stafford home, an unexpected visitor changes the lives of two families forever, proving that personal ties are more intricate than politics, and that true social change demands love, humor, and grace. First produced by Horizon Theatre Company in Atlanta, Night Blooms was named one of 2010’s top plays by the Atlanta Journal Constitution and ArtsATL. Winner of the Gene-Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award in 2011.

Friday, March 6, 2015
Voices of the Veterans
A panel discussion at the Marching in the Arc of Justice Conference, March 5-8, 2015 in Birmingham, AL., moderated by John Hurley with civil rights movement veterans, Susan Butler, the Rev. Clark Olsen, the Rev. James A. Hobart, Hollis Huston, Patricia Jefferson, the Rev. Liz McMaster, and Robert L. Williams.

Friday, March 6, 2015
The Sankofa Moment - the Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed 
The nature of racism: How it is taught, systemically reinforced and why it remains perniciously illusive. Mark Morrison-Reed, a retired UU minister, is an affiliated faculty member at Meadville Lombard Theological School and the coordinator of the Sankofa Archive there. He is the author and editor of several books from Skinner House Books, including The Selma Awakening: How the Civil Rights Movement Tested and Changed Unitarian Universalism.

Friday, March 6, 2015
Stories from the Movement: Implications for the Future -- Hollis Watkins
During this workshop, be prepared to listen to compelling stories from Hollis Watkins who gives voice to the story of his times -- telling his story -- in word and song. Join in and sign some of the songs that helped give children and adults of the Movement strength and hope. Watkins has spent a lifetime in pursuit of racial justice in Mississippi, and is founder and President of Southern Echo, Inc., a local leadership development, education, training, and technical assistance organization.

Friday, March 6, 2015
Honoring of the Families of the Martyrs
Presentations of Courageous Love Awards to the families of the Jimmie Lee Jackson, James Reeb, and Viola Liuzzo, martyrs of the Selma Voting Rights Campaign.

Saturday, March 7, 2015 
Voting Rights Today: Building on James Reeb Legacy
The 2013 Supreme Court ruling that gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act has led to voter suppression measures in 22 states. All Souls Unitarian Church, Washington, DC, James Reeb Voting Rights Project and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte, NC have created a partnership with each other and the NAACP NC Forward Together Moral Movement for bringing voting rights and the struggle for democracy to the center of organizing for social change. As young people and others are taking to the streets for Black Lives Matter, and as our nation gears up for another electoral season, this model is one that can effectively be replicated

Saturday, March 7, 2015
Honoring the Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham was an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement, from the Rev. Albert Hobart's work on the Greater Birmingham Council on Human Relations, to reaching out to the families of the 16th St Church bombing, preparing students for school integration, and marching in Selma. In addition, UUCB hosted many UU ministers and lay people who responded to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s call to Selma. This dinner is in their honor and the Rev. Gordon Gibson presents them with well-deserved recognition.