[For this
year’s MLK week series, I’ll highlight under-remembered figures, histories,
and stories that can expand our collective memories of the Civil Rights
Movement. Leading up to a special weekend post on 21st century
voices!]
As is pretty
much always the case when I write about the need to better remember figures (or
histories, or stories, or texts, or or or), I’m using myself as a case study,
rather than in any way pretending that I’ve got it all figured out. That’s
particularly evident when it comes to the amazing Lillian E. Smith, about whom I’ve only
learned in the last year or so thanks to my friend Matthew
Teutsch taking over as the new Director of the Smith Center. But
having begun to learn about Smith, I’ve quickly realized how indispensable a
voice she is for so many reasons, including how she can help us expand our collective
memories of the long Civil Rights Movement. Check out this November
Saturday Evening Post piece of
mine on Smith for a lot more on what makes her such a unique and powerful
writer and voice!
Last post
tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you
think? Civil Rights figures, histories, or stories you’d want to add to our collective
memories?
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