February is Black History month and USM will be commemorating it with a month-long salvo of events, some of which have already taken place. Last week, Bob Brown gave a lecture titled “The Slavery Reparations in the U.S. and Africa” and a separate “Living History” panel discussion explored the effects of the Civil Rights march on Washington.
Bob Brown’s Wednesday evening lecture in the Woodbury Campus Center Amphitheater was well-attended by faculty and students alike. As co-director of a group called Pan-African Roots, Brown continues the legal battle against Civil War-era companies, such as Aetna, who were involved in the slave trade. Brown’s lawsuit was filed last January in Chicago courts on behalf of all descendants of enslaved Africans “who were and are victims of the slave trade, slavery, colonialism, segregation and apartheid.” This event was sponsored by the USM Honors Program and Philosophy Symposium.
The Multicultural Student Affairs Office hosted the Glickman Library’s “Living History” discussion last week. USM students Julie Goell and George Borum interviewed two civil rights activists: Gerald E. Talbot and Rabbi Harry Sky. Talbot was in charge of founding the Portland branch of the NAACP in 1964. Sky has captured his experiences in his book My Journey. Behind the men, a projector displayed photographs and quotes from the civil rights movement on a screen.
Talbot and Sky were both present at an Aug. 28 1963 march on Washington where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I have a dream” speech. Talbot fondly recalled the bus ride to the capital. Sky was visibly moved to this day by the speech. “All that we can hope for in a human being was present,” he said.
The panel talked about the role of non-violent protest in the civil rights movement. Sky compared King to Gandhi: “The bus system shut down and no one raised a finger.”
Both men agreed that establishing Jan. 15 as Martin Luther King, Jr. day had been an important goal for the movement. Talbot was actively involved in the effort to create the holiday.
The panel discussed current attitudes towards activism. “No matter what’s going on, it can be changed,” Sky said in response to a question about apathy among college students. “You’re the vehicle by which it can be done.”
News Editor John Bronson contributed to this story.
Megan Fletcher can be reached at [email protected]