www.atlantastudentmovement.org

 

 

PRESS RELEASE                                                                                                              Contact: Toni O’Neal Mosley
                                                                                                                                                                         404-427-1385

 

50th Anniversary Celebration of the Atlanta Student Movement

Highlights Historic Value of “An Appeal for Human Rights”

 

Atlanta, GA., March 10, 2010 – “We, the students of the six affiliated institutions forming the Atlanta University Center -- Clark, Morehouse, Morris Brown and Spelman Colleges, Atlanta University and the Interdenominational Theological Center – here joined our hearts, minds, and bodies in the cause of gaining those rights which are inherently ours as members of the human race and as citizens of these United States.”

 

It was these opening words presented as “An Appeal for Human Rights” and published as a full-page advertisement in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on March 9, 1960, that forced the City of Atlanta to take stock of its less than civil practices 5o years ago.

 

On Monday, March 15, at 10:00 a.m., the Atlanta Student Movement Committee will officially kick-off a week-long celebration commemorating its 50th anniversary at a press conference on the steps of Trevor Arnett Hall on the campus of Clark Atlanta University – the original location of the student’s first public announcement of the movement that changed Atlanta.

 

“Fifty years ago, students from the Atlanta University Center began a movement for human rights, stranding up against unjust laws and segregation and risking their lives on the picket lines and in the jails of Atlanta,” said Judge Brenda H. Cole, Fulton County State Court and Co-chair of the Atlanta Student Movement Committee.  “We demanded not only the right to sit at lunch counters but to receive the rights owed to every citizen in the country. The Atlanta Student Movement changed the face of Atlanta.”

 

Judge Cole will be joined by fellow co-chairs Johnny E. Parham, an original member of the Committee on the Appeal for Human Rights, noted civil rights activist Lonnie C. King, Chair of the Committee on the Appeal for Human Rights, and Ambassador Andy Young.

 

Later that same day, original members of the Atlanta Student Movement and supporters will be honored at the opening of “Voices Across the Color Line: The Atlanta Student Movement 50th Anniversary,” an exhibition at the Atlanta History Center. Through photographs, documents, videos, and contemporary oral history interviews with Atlanta student leaders, “Voices Across the Color Line” commemorates the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Atlanta Student Movement. The exhibit runs through September 25, and is free and open to the public.

 

“As we reflect with pride in what was accomplished, our hearts and minds are filled with how much is left to be done, “ said Lonnie C. King. “The most urgent issue is the effective education of minority and low-income students that has eluded the many good faith attempts to improve educational outcomes, “ “This look back is to remember what is possible if people can work together on a solution for today.”


A full schedule of events is available at www.atlantastudentmovement.org.


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Media Instructions:

 

ALL EVENTS OPEN TO THE MEDIA

 

MONDAY, MARCH 15

Parking for Press Conference available on Greensferry Street

located on the back side of the Trevor Arnett hall building.

 

TUESDAY, MARCH 16

Media access allowed at

Proclamation Ceremony and Reception

Hosted by the City of Atlanta (not open to the public)

7 - 9:00 p.m.

City Hall Atrium


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Atlanta Student Movement 50th Anniversary Celebration

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

March 15-20, 2010

MONDAY, MARCH 15

10:00 a.m.

Press Conference

Announcing the 50th Anniversary Celebration

  of the Atlanta Student Movement

Steps of Trevor Arnett Hall

Clark Atlanta University Campus

Parking available in the Visitor’s Parking Lot

Open to the public

 

10:30 a.m.

Registration and Reception

Trevor Arnett Hall Art Gallery

6-9:00 p.m.

Opening Reception and Exhibition (Preview)

“Voices Across the Color Line:

   The Atlanta Student Movement 50th Anniversary”

Atlanta History Center

130 West Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta

http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com

 

This program is free and open to the public.
Reservations are required. Please call 404-814-4150.

6:00 p.m. - Cocktail Reception and Exhibition Viewing

7:00 p.m. - Keynote Lecture by Dr. Winston Grady-Willis, Director of International Studies at Skidmore College and author of Challenging U.S. Apartheid: Atlanta and the Black Struggle for Human Rights, 1960-1977 

8:00 p.m. - Panel Discussion featuring six participants from the Atlanta Student Movement. Each panelist represents one of the six schools comprising the Atlanta University Center in 1960.

Panelists:
Lonnie C. King, Chair, Committee on the Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR)
James Felder, Clark College
The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr., The Interdenominational Theological Center
Dr. Mary Ann Booker, Morris Brown College
Dr. David Satcher, Morehouse College
Dr. Gwendolyn Middlebrooks, Spelman College

(Con’t)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17

2:00 p.m.

Keynote Lecture and Panel Discussion

Cosby Auditorium, Spelman College

 

Keynote Address:

Marian Wright Edelman, Founder, Children's Defense Fund

 

Panelists:
Dr. Carlton Brown, Clark Atlanta University
Dr. Thomas W. Cole, Interdenominational Theological Center
Dr. Stanley Pritchett, Morris Brown College
Dr. Robert M. Franklin, Morehouse College
Dr. Beverly D. Tatum, Spelman College, Opening Remarks

 

 

THURSDAY, MARCH 18

10:50 a.m.

Crown Forum: A Commemoration of the Atlanta Student Movement

Speaker: Lonnie C. King, Chair, COAHR

 

Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, Morehouse College

Open to the public
View the web stream at www.morehouse.edu

 

2:30-3:45 p.m.

Workshop & Panel Discussion

“Looking Forward”

Moderator: Lydia Tucker Arnold

 

Panelists:

Dr. Herschelle Challenor, “Lessons Learned from the Atlanta Student Movement”

Danny Mitchell, “Strategies for Addressing Current Problems – A Challenge to Present Day Students”

Lonnie C. King, “1960 and 2010 Appeals”

 

Sponsored by the Morehouse Martin Luther King Jr. Collection

Executive Conference Center, Bank of America Auditorium, Morehouse College

Open to the public

 

SATURDAY, MARCH 20

10:00 a.m.

AUC Student Seminar

Sponsored by Dr. Josephine Bradley, Chair, Africana Women’s Studies

Thomas W. Cole Research Center for Science and Technology, Clark Atlanta University

Open to the public

 


The Atlanta Student Movement 50th Anniversary Committee acknowledges with gratitude the support of Atlanta Daily World, Atlanta Inquirer, Clark Atlanta University, Glennon Design Group, Interdenominational Theological Center, McDowell Photography, Morehouse College, Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection, Morris Brown College, Spelman College, and Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center.