Sunday APRIL 24 & Monday 25, 2016
Stories That Shaped A Nation: A National Commemoration of the
Women Icons of the March on Washington and the Civil Rights Movement
Announcing the Stories That Shaped A Nation 2016 theme
“Images of the Civil Rights Movement” – that woke the nation to the imperatives of Civil Rights Movement.
Among the attending 2016 Icons will be Family Representatives of 2015 Icon Mamie Till Mobley sharing the riveting images of Emmett Till – those images galvanizing the early civil rights movement in 1955. They will be joined by Family Representatives of the Four Little Girls – and the 2016 Icon Sarah Collins Rudolph, that Fifth Little Girl herself joining us – those images electrifying the 1963 civil rights movement. All will Icons having a private showing of the Allentown Art Museum exhibition This Little Light of Mine images of Civil Rights Movement activities between 1963 and 1967
Stories that Shaped a Nation, a three-year national awareness campaign, was launched April 26 and 27, 2015, in Allentown, on Coretta Scott King’s 88th birthday and comes to a close on April 27, 2017, on what would have been her 90th birthday. Events will take place at Miller Symphony Hall, The Freedom Memorial, the Allentown Art Museum, and The Center for Documentary Expression and Art (This Light of Ours Exhibit) in downtown Allentown, PA.
Stories that Shaped a Nation is a non-partisan, inclusive collaboration of the U.S. Library of Congress, PBS39, women leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus, women leaders and community organizations of the Lehigh Valley, and The Freedom Memorial of the Lehigh Valley; the only memorial in the world featuring both Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King.
Join Honorary Co-chair, U. S. Congresswoman Yvette Clark (NY-9), Chair of the Sojourner Truth Project of the Congressional Black Caucus and Renowned African-American poetess, Nikki Giovanni, in honoring 2016 Icons,
U.S. Congresswoman Terri Sewell (AL-7) and family members of the “Four Little Girl”s plus twelve other Icons including Pulitzer Prizing winning Alice Walker in celebrating the women leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.
“This three-year campaign launches The Freedom Memorial of the Lehigh Valley’s work to champion Civil Rights education with inclusion of important and relevant curriculum for school children,” says Sam (Siobhan) Bennett, a co-founder of the Freedom Memorial located at 4th Street and Martin Luther King Drive, Allentown. “It is essential that Pennsylvania raise its current score of ‘D’, as cited by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2014, as it pertains to Civil Rights education for school children in the commonwealth. We do so by celebrating women’s vitally important presence in the history of the Civil Rights movement at this event, and by acknowledging those today who are actively playing a role in further shaping a nation.” The Stories that Shaped a Nation three-year campaign will expand the role of the Freedom Memorial to champion Civil Rights education for all school children, in the Lehigh Valley and throughout Pennsylvania to the nation at large.
Collaborating with the U.S. Library of Congress, Stories that Shaped a Nation will continue work over the next two years to gather and enhance the stories of the women icons it has honored in 2015, and currently 2016 and 2017 to ensure their stories are preserved for posterity.
(Note: The Freedom Memorial of the Lehigh Valley is also known as the Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King Memorial)
Schedule of Events
SUNDAY April 24, 2016
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm HEAR the ICONS with complimentary REFRESHMENTS for ICONS and GUESTS
Miller Symphony Hall Theatre (Free Event): A panel where 2016 Icons, 2015 Icon Laureates and Honorary Co-Chairs will share their personal stories of the Civil Rights Movement with audience, moderated by
Honorary Co-Chairs, renowned African-American poetess Nikki Giovanni and U. S. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, Chair of the Sojourner Truth Legacy Project of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
4:00 pm – 4:30 pm MARCH WITH ICONS
Miller Symphony Hall to The Freedom Memorial (Free Event) A march open to the public where Icons and community march from Miller Symphony Hall to The Freedom Memorial.
(23 minutes, 1.0 mile)
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm WORSHIP WITH ICONS at The Freedom Memorial
(Free Event) A sunset memorial service permanently inducting the 2016 Icons at The Freedom Memorial. In addition, honoring the contributions of the labor movement to the Civil Rights Movement. (If inclement weather service held at St. James A. M. E. Zion Church immediately next door.)
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm MEET the ICONS
Miller Symphony Hall, Rodale Room (Ticketed Event) A light buffet dinner where community can meet and mingle with icons and Honorary Co-Chairs, collecting signatures from each in complimentary signature books. $35. and
both paid events for $60. (table sponsorships and groups rates available)
MONDAY April 25, 2016
9:00 am – 11:30 am HISTORY WITH ICONS
Allentown Art Museum (Private viewing) of “This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement,” for Icons, Icon Laureates, Honorary Co-Chairs, Partners and Keynote Speakers at the Allentown Art Museum. Buffet soul food breakfast served.
12:00 – 1:30 pm HONOR THE ICONS
Miller Symphony Hall, Rodale Room (Ticketed Event) Community luncheon honoring the 2016 Icons and attending 2015 Icon Laureates. In addition, honoring the contributions of the labor movement to the Civil Rights Movement. Buffet soul food lunch served. $35. and both paid events for $60. (table sponsorships and groups rates available)
Tickets Available:
Online at: stsan.eventbrite.com or Call and Order Tickets: Nah-Tarsha Cherry: 484.547.7082 | Tomacene Nickens: 610.865.9379
(Purchase tickets to both paid events for $60.) (Seating is Limited)
2016 Women Icons
Addie Mae Collins[1] Four Little Girls [Representative Attending 2017]
Denise McNair1,[2] Four Little Girls [Representative Attending 2016]
Carole Robertson1 Four Little Girls
Cynthia Wesley1 Four Little Girls
Sarah Collins Rudolph[3] Fifth Little Girl {Attending 2016]
U.S. Congresswoman Terri Sewell (AL-7) 3 First African-America Congresswoman elected to the district of Montgomery, Birmingham and Selma {Attending 2016]
Claudette Colvin First bus segregation resistor asserted in Civil Rights Movement
Diane Nash Civil Rights Activist
Marian Wright-Edelman Founder of Children’s Defense Fund
Alice Walker Civil Rights Activist and Pulitzer Prize winning author
Charlayne Hunter Gault Civil Rights Activist and Journalist
Toni Morrison Civil Rights Activist and Pulitzer Prize and Noble Prize winning author
Rita Moreno Civil Rights Activist and First Hispanic to win Academy Award
Joan Baez Hispanic Civil Rights Activist and performer of “We Shall Overcome” at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Attending Freedom Memorial Icon Laureates
Nikki Giovanni3 Civil Rights Activist, World Renowned African-American Poetess, 2015 Freedom Memorial Icon Laureate
Airickca Gordon-Taylor for Mamie Till-Mobley2 Civil Rights Activist, Niece and CEO Mamie Till-Mobley Foundation
Attending Honorary Co-Chairs
U.S. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke3, (NY-9) Chair of the Sojourner Truth Legacy Project of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
Nikki Giovanni3, Civil Rights Activist, World Renowned African-American Poetess, 2015 Freedom Memorial Icon Laureate
2015 Women Honorees
Honorary Co-chair U.S. Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11)
Immediate Past Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus [Attendee 2015]
Honorary Co-chair U.S. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (NY-9)
Chair Sojourner Truth Legacy, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation [Attendee 2015]
Honoree U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) [Attendee 2015]
Honoree Amelia Boynton Robinson [Attendee 2015]
Honoree Nikki Giovanni
Honoree Elizabeth Eckford
Honoree Paula Giddings [Attendee 2015]
Honoree Beverly Guy-Sheſtall [Attendee 2015]
Honoree Ericka Huggins [Attendee 2015]
Honoree Frankie Muse Freeman
Honoree Johnetta Betsch Cole
Honoree Myrlie Evers-Williams
Representative for Coretta Scott King, In Memoriam [Representative Attendee 2015]
Representative for Rosa Parks, In Memoriam
Representative for Ella Baker, In Memoriam
Representative for Mamie Till-Mobley, In Memoriam [Representative Attendee 2015]
Representative for Ruby Dee, In Memoriam
Representative for Dorothy Height, In Memoriam
Representative for Dorothy Cotton, In Memoriam
Commemoration Sponsors
National Penn Bank
PPL
Sponsors
PBS39 – Official Media Sponsor LV Print Center – Official Print Sponsor Renaissance Hotel – Official Accommodations Sponsor Lillian June Photography – Official Photography Sponsor Lee Design Services – Official Design/PR Sponsor Lehigh Valley Black News Network – Official Marketing Sponsor
Community Partners
■ Allentown NAACP
■ Bethlehem NAACP
■ Easton NAACP
■ NAACP WIN Region 2
■ This Is Your Life Association of the Lehigh Valley
■ The Caring Place
■ Lehigh Temple #930 Daughters of Elks
■ Allentown YWCA
■ Bethlehem YWCA
■ Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley
■ City of Allentown
■ County of Lehigh
■ Allentown Art Museum
■ Allentown School District
■ League of Women Voters Lehigh County
■ League of Women Voters Northampton County
■ Lehigh Valley Black News Network
■ Lehigh Valley Delta’s
■ Lehigh Valley Masons
■ LV Black News Network
■ Miller Symphony Hall
■ Women’s Leadership Council of the United Way
of the Greater Lehigh Valley
■ United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley
■ Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum and
Lehigh County Historical Society
■ Lehigh Valley Dietetic Association (LVDA)
■ PA Legislative Black Caucus
■ Lehigh Valley Faces
■ National Black MBA Association Philadelphia Chapter
“Stories That Shaped A Nation” Volunteer Leadership Team
Sharon Fraser and Siobhan “Sam” Bennett, Stories Co-Chairs
Raquel Phelps, Stories Volunteer Administrator
Shirl Comick and Raquel Phelps, Co-Chairs, Operations and Logistics
Dr. Joann Spencer, Jean Brown and Mary Ellen Griffin, Co-Chairs Icons
Esther Lee and Jessica Lee, Co-Chairs PR, Marketing and Social Media
Bonita Crowe and Nah-Tarsha Cherry,Co-Chairs Community Partners and Ticket Sales
Tonya Trotter, Chair Volunteers
Sharon Fraser, Dan Bosket and Siobhan “Sam” Bennett, Co-Chairs Development
Freedom Memorial Board Members
Sharon Fraser, Board President
Nathan Kline, Board Vice-President
Adewale “Wally” Dosunmu, Board Secretary
Siobhan “Sam” Bennett, Board Treasurer
Many thanks to Kevin Easterling, Freedom Memorial Founding Team member
All financial gifts should be made payable to: The Freedom Memorial (United Way) Mail to: Sharon Fraser, 25 North 11th Street, Allentown, PA 18101.
[1] Deceased [2] Attending Family Member or Other Representing [3] Attending Icon
For more information contact:
Esther M. Lee, President Bethlehem NAACP
Chair, Marketing and PR Committee
“Stories that Shaped a Nation”
http://bethnaacp.org/
