The Rev. James Lawson, one of the most influential leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, will discuss his classic book, Revolutionary Nonviolence, in an interview with President Kyle Farmbry at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, at Dana Auditorium.
James’ conversation with Kyle is part of a speakers series at three Greensboro colleges and universities commemorating the 63rd anniversary of the Greensboro Sit-Ins. The inaugural Civil Rights Speaker Series is presented by Greensboro’s International Civil Rights Center & Museum.
The series will focus on the writings of well-known contributors to the nation’s struggle for human dignity and personal equality.
James is recognized as one of the Civil Rights Movement's most consequential leaders. He spent three years in India as a missionary and studied Gandhi’s strategy of nonviolence before returning to the United States to join the movement. James helped train many civil rights activists, including the Little Rock Nine, and organized campaigns that included the Freedom Riders and the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins.
Lawson became the pastor of the Centenary United Methodist Church in Memphis in 1962 and invited Martin Luther King Jr., to Memphis during the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike.
Kyle says he’s eager to sit down and talk with James about his life’s work. "It's such an honor to sit with James and have him share his stories with the Guilford community and the rest of Greensboro," says Kyle. "His stories are not relegated to the past. They're just as important in helping us move into the future."
Kyle’s conversation with James will conclude the speaker series. The rest of the schedule:
- Andrew Young, an activist, former mayor of Atlanta and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, will share stories from the biography The Many Lives of Andrew Young Wednesday, Feb. 8, at UNCG’s Elliott University Center Auditorium.
- Johnnetta Cole, former president of Bennett and Spelman Colleges, will be at Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel on Wednesday, Feb. 15, to speak about her book, Racism in American Public Life: A Call for Action.
All of the talks begin at 6 pm. Each of the four programs will include a book signing at the Civil Rights Museum from 1:30 to 2 pm and again after each program.
Tickets for the public to each event are $50, or $175 for the full series, and can be purchased here. Guilford faculty, staff and students may pick up free tickets for the Feb. 22 event while supplies last from 8 am-2 pm weekdays at the Info Desk in Founders Hall and beginning at 5:30 pm Feb. 22 in the lobby of Dana Auditorium.