On Saturday, July 18 from 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm at the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center, the Caucus of African American Leaders, the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County (TAAAC), Chesapeake Indivisible, and the Transformative Justice Coalition will join to celebrate the life and legacy of the late Congressman John Lewis. As part of the annual “Good Trouble Lives On” national weekend of action, the event will educate participants on the history of voting rights as well as discuss the challenges we face today.
Participants will watch a short documentary about the 1965 fight for voting rights in Selma, Alabama and then will hear from Mr. Phillip Hunter, who was a foot soldier of the 1965 voting rights marches and participated in the march across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama with Rep. Lewis. Hunter’s actions, as well as the work of 500 other Anne Arundel residents, are memorialized at the Civil Rights Foot Soldiers Memorial across from the Arundel Center in People’s Park in Annapolis.
There will also be a panel discussion which includes Lisa Rodvien, District 6 County Councilmember; Nikki Tyree, Executive Director of League of Women Voters of Maryland; and Olaoluwa “Roxy” Adeleke-Wales, College Student & Political Staffer.
Participants will be asked to check their voter registration as well as pledge to vote in November. They will also be given the opportunity to volunteer to support and protect the right to vote.
Local congregations, clergy, and houses of worship are encouraged to give sermons over the weekend on the importance of voting as we collectively carry the torch of the civil rights movement.
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CONTACTS:
- Carl Snowden, Convenor of the Caucus of African American Leaders, 443-871-5656
- Kristina Korona, President of the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County, 443-333-3594
- Robin Faitoute, Event Facilitator for Chesapeake Indivisible, 410-353-7814
