Conference to celebrate Voting Rights Act anniversary

The conference "From Selma to Washington: A 40th Anniversary Celebration of the 1965 Voting Rights Act" will be held April 14 and 18 on the campuses of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Southeast Community College-Lincoln. All events are free and open to the public, except school assemblies.

"Living Legends" of the civil rights movement, the Rev. C.T. Vivian and Joanne Bland, will speak at the Champion's Club, 707 Stadium Drive, at 7 p.m. April 14. Bland will conduct a discussion earlier in the day at 1 p.m. at the Southeast Community College Student Center, 8800 O St. She will also speak to Lincoln public high school assemblies at Lincoln High, Southwest, Southeast and Bryan Community Learning Center on April 15.

Vivian and Bland will discuss their experiences in Selma, Ala., and that campaign's crucial link to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Vivian participated in the 1959-1961 Nashville sit-in movement and the 1961 Freedom Rides. He was a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, where he served on Martin Luther King Jr.'s executive staff and played a central role organizing the Selma voting rights campaign. Vivian holds leadership positions at the Southern Organizing Committee Education Fund, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Black Action Strategies and Information Center and the Center for Democratic Renewal.

Bland is the director of the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma. As an 11-year-old, she was active in the Selma campaign. She was on the Edmund Pettus Bridge during "Bloody Sunday" and participated in the "Turn-Around Tuesday" march, both pivotal moments in the local and national civil rights drama. She has the distinction of being the youngest person arrested and jailed during the Selma voting rights campaign.

Sam Issacharoff, professor of law at Columbia University, will speak on "The Heroically Troubled Future of Voting Rights Law" at noon April 18 at the UNL Law College Auditorium, East Campus Loop and Fair Street. Issacharoff is the Harold R. Medina professor in procedural jurisprudence at Columbia Law School. His wide-ranging research deals with issues in civil procedure, law and economics, constitutional law, particularly with regard to voting rights and electoral systems, and employment law.

The panel discussion "What is the legacy of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?" will be held at 7 p.m. April 18 at the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Participants will be Issacharoff; Michael Pitts, U.S. Department of Justice, who specializes in civil rights and voting rights; and D'Andra Orey, UNL assistant professor of political science, who researches the racial aspects of representation, redistricting, and voting rights.

Sponsors of the conference include Southeast Community College, the Nebraska Humanities Council, and at UNL, the Political Science Department, the Office of the Dean of the UNL College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, the Office of Equity, Access and Diversity, the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, the Institute for Ethnic Studies, the Department of History, the African/African American Studies Program, and the OASIS/Culture Center.

CONTACT: Patrick Jones, Asst. Professor, Ethnic Studies & History, (402) 472-2414