As recent political and social events bring unrest to people across America, Salt Lake Community College is inviting students to come listen to scholars who have fought for change and equality.
SLCC will host the Women in Freedom Movement Forum in the Grand Theatre on Wednesday, Feb. 8. A panel of influential African American women will share their perspectives of the civil rights movement and discuss the role of activism in society.
Angela Davis
Davis is a writer, scholar and activist. Her worldview was greatly influenced by her childhood years living in segregated Alabama. In the early 1970s she was forced into hiding and the FBI placed her on their ten most wanted list. She served 18 months in jail before being acquitted of murder and conspiracy charges. Davis advocates for prisoner rights and envisions a future without prisons.
Kathleen Cleaver
As a senior lecturer at Emory University Law School, Cleaver specializes in civil rights history, slavery and the anti-slavery movement, among other topics. She worked as a communications secretary for the Black Panther Party for four years, becoming the first female member of the governing body known as the Central Committee.
Margaret Burnham
Burnham teaches law at Northeastern University, where she also founded the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project. She started her career at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and represented civil rights activists in the 1970s. Burnham was appointed by Nelson Mandela to serve on an international human rights commission in 1993.
Michele Goodwin
Goodwin will be the moderator for the panel. Goodwin has been recognized as an advocate for equality and reproductive justice, particularly in the regulation of medicine, science and biotechnology. She has been published in multiple journals, including the Harvard Law Review.
The Women in Freedom Movement Forum will begin at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public. SLCC students can participate in an exclusive question-and-answer session on Thursday, Feb. 9.
Contact the Grand Theatre or SLCC Arts and Cultural Events for more information.
