This symposium will bring together veterans of the Civil Rights Movement to reflect on the little-known, yet significant connections between Detroit, MI and the southern Civil Rights Movement. While the recent dedication of Viola Liuzzo Park and monuments honoring Mrs. Liuzzo and other Detroit activists have memorialized parts of this history, the stories of Detroiters who headed South in the 1960s to fight for civil rights, voting rights, and Black liberation have gone under acknowledged for their historical significance. These stories not only expand our understanding of Detroit’s place within the Civil Rights Movement, but offer important insights and lessons about organizing for Black liberation and social justice in the 21st Century. Therefore, we will coordinate a full-day symposium with Civil Rights veterans to explore the contributions made by Detroiters to the southern Civil Rights Movement as we approach the 60th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March and Voting Rights Act (1965).

Special guests include:  Dorothy Dewberry Aldridge, Bettie Mae Fikes, Rev. Bernard Lafayette, Martha Prescod, Norman Noonan and Jeanne Theoharis.

Continental breakfast provided and lunch provided, first come first serve.