2011 Annual Gathering

Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Riders

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Nearly half a century ago, in the spring of 1961, an incredibly courageous group of individuals left Washington, DC on a commercial bus to embark on a perilous journey to strike down Jim Crow segregation in the Deep South.

Now, fifty years after their historic journey, we have a unique opportunity to gather in Jackson, MS to commemorate the golden anniversary of the Freedom Rides and continue the ongoing conversation of racial reconciliation and what it means for us today.

Come join us for the 11th annual JustPeace Gathering – Journey Toward the Light. JustPeace, the Mississippi Annual Conference of the UMC, and the General Commission on Religion and Race of the UMC will co-sponsor the event from 5pm on March 6th to 12 noon on March 8th, at various locations in Jackson, Mississippi.

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Info:

• Highlights
• Tentative Schedule
• Lodging & Transportation
• Registration

Highlights

During our time together in Jackson, MS we will have the opportunity to experience a play written by critically acclaimed playwrite/actor, Mike Wiley, hear first hand accounts from this era, and visit a variety of historical sites important to the Civil Rights Movement including Medgar Evers home, Tougaloo College and Galloway United Methodist Church.

The Parchman Hour

We will be seeing the latest Civil Rights-era play by Mike Wiley.  Wiley is an acclaimed actor and playwrite, and now visiting professor at Duke University.   The Parchman Hour commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders.   Presented in the style of the variety shows of yesteryear, this moving production explores three of the tensest months of 1961. The Parchman Hourbrings to the stage powerful oral histories and conversations from the Freedom Rides’ most iconic protagonists and antagonists.  Read more about the play here.

And, here is a review from the University of North Carolina newspaper, The Daily Tarheel:  “Parchman Hour” packs a punch, tackles difficult topics.

Medgar Evers Home

Medgar Evers was a civil rights activist from Mississipppi and was assassinated in his driveway on June 12, 1963 after coming home from a NAACP meeting by a white supremacist.  His activism in Mississippi made him one of the most visible civil rights leader in Mississippi.   As a result, he and his family were subjected to numerous threats and violent actions over the years, including a firebombing of their house.   His murder helped prompt President John F. Kennedy to ask Congress for a civil rights bill, which was signed into law by Lyndon Johnson the following year.

Tougaloo College

During the 1950s and 1960s, this historically black college became a primary center of activity of the civil rights movement in Mississippi. Students at Tougaloo, whose campus is located ten miles north of Jackson, led a multi-year effort to end racial discrimination in the state’s capital.

Tougaloo College’s leadership, courage in opening its campus to the Freedom Riders and other Civil Rights workers and leaders, and its bravery in supporting a movement whose time had come, helped to change the economic, political and social fabric of the state of Mississippi and the nation.