SNCC and Grassroots Organizing: Building A More Perfect Union

Please join us at North Carolina Central University (Durham, NC) on February 2 & 3, 2024, for the SNCC and Grassroots Organizing: Building A More Perfect Union discussion series, generously supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Featuring veterans of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced "Snick") and humanities scholars, this two-day community gathering focuses on SNCC's grassroots community organizing and its relevance to ongoing efforts to build a more just, inclusive, and sustainable society. At its core, SNCC helped community members feel empowered to make choices and act on the issues that most impacted their lives and their communities. Come and join your neighbors to learn more about SNCC's organizing work and explore connections to your life and community. Saturday, February 3 Voting Rights Roundtable Discussion & Workshop 10:00 a.m. NCCU, School of Law, Great Hall Voting rights were at the heart of the modern Civil Rights Movement, something that SNCC and others could organize around. SNCC field secretaries were deeply committed to living and working with local people. They went door-to-door, day after day, visiting with and encouraging people to overcome their fears around trying to register. SNCC continued to work on voter registration and political organizing after the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and voting and voting rights remain critically important to meaningful citizenship today. Join humanities scholars Wesley Hogan and Joshua Myers for a discussion with SNCC veterans Charles Cobb, Jr. and Jennifer Lawson to learn more about voting rights and explore the role of grassroots organizing in securing access to the vote. Art & Culture Learning Toolkit Workshop 1:30 p.m. NCCU School of Law, Great Hall Join SNCC veteran Jennifer Lawson and movement historian Wesley Hogan for this interactive Learning Toolkit workshop. Participants will dig into documents and audiovisual materials, learn about the role of arts and culture in SNCC's movement building, and collectively explore how those lessons might be relevant today. This workshop is geared toward educators, civic organizations, community or activist groups, librarians, youth-or anyone who wants to learn more. Visit the SNCC Legacy Project website for details and to learn more: https://sncclegacyproject.org/sncc-grassroots-organizing/