Civil rights leader and biographer to headline fall '06 Landiss Lecture Series
Janel Shoun |
JoAnne Prichard Morris, who partnered with Blackwell to tell her life story in the book Barefootin’, will also speak at the event.
The title of Blackwell’s engrossing autobiography, Barefootin’, refers to her childhood years spent in barefoot poverty in a Mississippi sharecropping family. As you read her amazing life story, you will realize the title is also a metaphor for her humility and her need to recognize the important things in her life.
This book is not only captivating but also important as a historical document, as it chronicles her role as a “founding mother” of the Civil Rights Movement; her work with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the National Council of Negro Women; and her election as the first black female mayor in Mississippi, where she served for twenty years.
Blackwell is a fellow of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. At age 50, she received a master’s degree from the University of Massachusetts. In 1992, the MacArthur Foundation named her a fellow and recipient of its annual “genius grant.” She holds four honorary doctorates and has received numerous awards for her contributions to human rights.
Morris is an editor, writer and publisher. She worked closely with her late husband, Willie Morris, on many of his books, including My Dog Skip.
“There have been more acclaimed heroes of the Civil Rights Movement than Unita Blackwell, but none more courageous and none more colorful. Her soul-stirring account speaks to the resilience and indomitable spirit of a poor black woman in the Mississippi Delta who simply refused to accept the role of a second-class citizen,” said William Winter, former governor of Mississippi, of Barefootin’:
Blackwell’s life inspires and reminds us that world-changing movements can be the result of small things, and that real freedom comes from taking responsibility for our own lives to make the world a better place for all.
The late Morris P. Landiss, former chair of the English department, endowed the Landiss Lecture Series, in the belief that students need experiences beyond the classroom to stimulate intellectual growth.
Over 21 years, the lecture series has brought quality presentations to the Lipscomb campus: programs from outstanding writers, programs making us aware of current issues and programs that stir us to embrace our faith and learning heritage.
Other authors who have brought literature to life at Lipscomb through this series are nationally known literary figures such as George Garrett, Bret Lott, Jan Parini, John Egerton, Robert Massie, Richard Marius and Wilma Dykeman.
The Landiss Lecture Series is sponsored by the Department of English at Lipscomb University. Books by the featured writers are available for sale and autographing after the program. All programs are free and open to the public.
For further information call 615.279.5960 or consult www.lipscomb.edu.
Barefootin’, by Unita Blackwell and JoAnne Prichard Morris, is published by the Crown Publishing Group, ISBN 0-609-61060-0. $23. June 2006