Have you ever been involved in a conversation with a group – perhaps old friends, or maybe new colleagues or neighbors – and the talk turns to a familiar question: “Do you remember where you were when…?”  Sometimes it’s a recent pop-culture event: “Do you remember where you were when you found out Michael Jackson died?”  Sometimes it’s a life event that changes the country: “Do you remember where you were when the Twin Towers were hit, or when they crumbled to the streets of New York City?”  It may be a sporting event, great-grandfathers recall where they were when ‘The Babe’ called his shot; it might be political – women in their 60s right now vividly remember where they were when President JFK was shot and assassinated.  It’s a big question, with bigger answers, and the biggest implications.

Sadly, as generations age, there are always fewer and fewer people who can give first-hand accounts of these huge, and worldly events.  The final survivors of the Holocaust, people who were passengers who survived the sinking of the Titanic… are saying their last good-byes, and unless their stories are begged of, told, and documented, those memories can be lost forever.

For precisely this reason, a recent compilation by The New York Times, honoring heroes of the Civil Rights-era, holds within it more value than anyone can put a price on.  It’s a multi-media experience than students, hard-working family members, and retirees can enjoy together.  That close friends – perhaps with grandparents on opposite sides of the theoretical divide – can share, learn from, and allow to spark meaningful and teaching dialogue toward further understanding.

Within it are contemporary pictures of past milestones and famous and moving faces, historical photographs, interviews, audio clips, and more.

This Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day weekend, which always fall during Black History Month, take a moment to explore this moving collage of unforgettable moments in this essential era in American history – the Civil Rights era – when the convictions of many brave people manifested into a fight for equality for all.

The hard copy of The New Yorker periodical should be on newsstands today, Friday, February 12, 2010.

Steeped in tradition, “In Performance at the White House” is a regular cultural music and performance event at the White House that has been hosted by first families for decades now, dating back to the time of the Carter administration.  Produced since 1987 by WETA television – Washington’s source for compelling television – the event draws high-profile Washingtonians and honored guests, artists and activist alike.

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Morgan Freeman, a presenter at the White House for “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement.” Tapes February 10, broadcasts February 11 on PBS stations nationwide. [Photo Credit: Nigel Parry

Sojourn to the Past is also extremely excited that recently, Joan Baez [who sits on our National Advisory Committee] joined the concert line-up.  She’ll perform “We Shall Overcome” – which is a tune close to Sojourner’s hearts that the students sing nearly daily on their journey.

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Joan Baez performs during the “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement” concert in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 9, 2010. [Photo Credit: Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton

The concert will also showcase a reunion of three of the original Freedom Singers, who traveled over 50,000-plus miles during the 1960’s – singing for the cause of freedom for all Americans.  During the February 10th concert (taped), the original Freedom Singers will be: Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, Rutha Harris, and Charles Neblett.

The President will make opening remarks at this concert, held in the East Room, which will stream live on www.whitehouse.gov, and also result in a one-hour concert special produced by NPR and available starting tomorrow, Feb. 12th.

Take advantage of this wonderful collection of talented performers honoring our nation’s storied history, and share it with your friends and family.  A complete list of performers and guests to participate in the show can be found here.

After an international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, it was announced on Sunday that Soundtrack for a Revolution was one of the nominees on a 15-film short list for the Best Documentary Film category consideration for the annual Academy Awards.

Music featured in the work includes musical artists the Roots, the Blind Boys of Alabama, John Legend, and Wyclef Jean.  And the film tells the story of the civil rights movement, focusing on how music played a role in the struggles.

Directors Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman have partnered on the project.

As we tweeted last Wednesday, James Armstrong, the Birmingham barber and Civil Rights leader who iconically carried the American flag to lead the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march, has died of heart failure.  The United States Civil Rights community has truly lost one of its pivotal, historic members in his passing.

James Armstrong, pictured here at the 40th anniversary re-enactment of the Selma Voting Rights March to Montgomery, known as Bloody Sunday.

One of his most notable and long-standing actions was that Armstrong was the catalyst in initiating the 1957 class-action lawsuit to integrate area schools after wanting to enrolls his sons in the all-white Graymont Elementary school.  Speaking to his dedication to the cause, and to his persistence in the fight for equal rights, when interviewed at one of the anniversary marches that he regularly attended in Selma that commemorate the now-famous march, he’s quoted as saying “I’ll keep coming back as long as I can walk.  One day, I may even come in a wheelchair.”

Armstrong was a WWII army veteran – having been drafted to fight at age 18 – but his greatest fight may have been right here on American soil.  He ran his own business, the barber shop that boasted the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as a loyal customer, was beneficial to conduct sit-ins and other demonstrations without fear of retribution from an employer.

Perhaps his biggest disappointment – per Shirley Gavin Floyd, the business manager for the Civil Rights Activist Committee in Birmingham – was that he had to cancel his trip to DC this past winter for the inauguration of President Barack Obama, whose election he saw as a culmination of his efforts.

Back in September, we wrote a blog about Jerry Mitchell and his amazing story about how he’s been devoting much of his career to tirelessly reporting on unresolved Civil Rights crimes from decades past.  For said work, he was this year awarded one of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation ‘Genius Grants’.

In case anyone missed it, we just wanted to make sure we made mention of his appearance on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report last month.  This was just absolutely wonderful exposure for the results of so many years of hard work, due to the humorous, tongue-in-cheek pundit’s large national following.

Watch the video online at Colbert Nation:

Director Lee Daniels

Coming off of directing Precious, what could very possible be an Oscar-contender this year, it’s been released that director Lee Daniels is in “advanced negotiations” to direct Selma – a film about the 1965 march in Dallas County Alabama that essentially embodies the height of the Civil Rights movement.  While Precious was based on a Novel – Sapphire’s “Push” – the Selma script is the product of Paul Webb (who has long-been involved on Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln which is still not  yet finished).

As if you need even more reasons to excitedly anticipate this project, the film’s producer is Christian Colson, who most recently won an Oscar for the international stand-out film Slumdog Millionaire.  Additionally, Plan B – the production company belonging to Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner – is coming onto the project to co-produce.  Though, no cast or budget has been released yet.

From the people involved alone, this is a work that is bound to be as impressive as it is moving.  As the guys at Collider note, “It doesn’t take a genius to tell this project is being set up for some serious awards consideration in 2010 should it complete production and hit theaters next year.”  They continue that it should, “have some support not only because of its subject matter, but because of the success of Precious both critically and at the box office.”

Here’s to hoping that a film that caliber of Slumdog generates not only attention from the press, but is an inspiration to high-profile celebrities and viewers alike to get involved in the continuing fight for equal Civil Rights for all.

Friday, prominent Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers – who was murdered in 1963 in his own driveway after meeting with NAACP lawyers – was honored with the naming of a Navy Supply Ship after him. This follows a Navy tradition of giving ships in the support fleet names of honored pioneers, explorers, and other notables.

Medgar Evers, Civil Rights Activist and Honoree

The announcement was made during former Mississippi governor and current Navy Secretary Ray Mabus’s speech at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi.

Evers, who was the NAACP’s first field secretary for the state of Mississippi, was integral during the Civil Rights Movement in MS, in organizing nonviolent protests, voter registration drives, and boycotts. And, his tragic death was the impetus that prompted President John F. Kennedy to ask Congress for a comprehensive civil rights bill.

An administration statement that was released in conjunction with the Navy’s announcement said the following of Evers:

“At a time when our country was wrestling with finally ending segregation and racial injustice, Evers lead civil rights efforts to secure the right to vote for all African-Americans and to integrate public facilities, schools and restaurants.”

Medgar Evers was thirty-seven years old when he was shot, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sojourn to the Past remembers, recognizes, and honors Civil Rights activists who came before us like Mr. Evers. We hope to continue his legacy of nonviolent, educated actions in the fight for equality for all.

Thomas Perez

Earlier today, the Senate voted 72-22 to confirm President Barack Obama’s nominee to lead the Civil Rights Division within the Justice Department. Civil Rights attorney Thomas E. Perez was named Assistant Attorney General, Head of the Civil Rights Division. Once announced as the nominee, confirmation hearings were held back in April; however, debate between party lines kept him in the holding pattern until recently.

Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, had the following to say about the confirmation:

“There are no questions about the qualifications of Tom Perez. During his confirmation hearing, Mr. Perez made clear his commitment that the Justice Department would enforce the law. In the arena of civil rights, living up to those assurances is particularly important. Given that Tom Perez has a distinguished record of public service and a long career advancing civil rights, I have full confidence that he is the right person to restore the Civil Rights Division to its finest traditions of independent law enforcement.”

To learn more about Thomas Perez, visit his page in Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, where he served as Secretary of the Department.

This week, The 14th Dalai Lama is in Memphis, Tennessee to receive the 2009 International Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum.  The Freedom Awards is an annual event, which serves as the Museum’s largest fundraiser, and that honors individuals who have made significant contributions in civil rights and who have laid the foundation for present and future leaders in the battle for human rights.  Presenting the Dalai Lama with the key to the city and a proclamation making him an official citizen of Memphis for his devotion to civil rights, were Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton, Jr. and Memphis Mayor Myron Lowery.

His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama

The National Civil Rights Museum is located in the Lorraine Motel, which is known because it is the assassination site of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  “I never met him, but I admire him very much,” he said.  According to a Huffington Post article by Tamara Conniff, the Dalai Lama became quiet and pensive at the mention of Dr. King’s name, as paying homage to the influential Civil Rights leader is what prompted His Holiness to make the trek to Memphis.

Though living what seems like decades and worlds apart, the Dalai Lama and Dr. King have a distinguishing fact in common: in the face of adversity, the common thread in each of their fights wasn’t a fight at all – it was more powerful than that – it was an unyielding strong-hold to the ideals of non-violent action.  In the Civil Rights era in the United States, King was the face of peaceful protest of all that was unjust about the law; in modern day China, the exiled religious leader infuses all of his Free Tibet messages with stresses of this same notion.

Sojourn to the Past salutes the 2009 winners of the Freedom Awards, and their committment to conquering inequality without violent confrontation or conflict.  Sojourn to the Past’s vision promotes social justice through non-violence and inspired action.

Wade Henderson, President of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

As the Convention was calling to a vote on organizing, the President of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) Wade Henderson told members that union freedoms are, indeed, an issue related to civil rights. And, in addition he urged Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, assuring that the civil rights community would work in conjunction with union representatives to see that happen. “Union participation can begin to lift the dead weight of decades of discrimination. For African Americans, women and Latinos the best way to build a better life is to join together with others to form a union,” said Henderson. Need proof? The advantage of being in a union is obvious to Henderson, who cited that African American union members earn 28 percent more than their nonunion counterparts.

Student Alumni of Sojourn to the Past will always share common ground.

The past student participants of Sojourn to the Past are not unlike a union in many ways. They shared a similar experience that establishes common ground. They have a bond that even though they may not personally know those who have gone before them or after them, they look to them as a teammate. They know that together their voices are much louder than any single one of them screaming at the cause all alone. And they are committed to pushing and pulling each other through triumphant and difficult times, taking turns leading if another stumbles. The Sojourn alumni, perhaps most importantly, believe in perpetuation – they are not acting solely on their own behalf, but for the betterment of the lives of the generations to come.
Check out some of the things that students who have made the Sojourn journey have to say here and be inspired!