MS + MA
MS + MA is a joint project of the Mississippi Humanities Council and Mass Humanities. We’re bringing together people from our respective states for six interactive, online programs to facilitate conversation and connection. By reflecting on our states’ histories in relationship to each other, this series aims to build understanding and offer new perspectives. At a time when the pandemic has created a greater sense of isolation, we hope to forge connections.
MS+MA: Stories of School Integration
April 29, 6pm-7:30pm Central/7pm-8:30pm Eastern
Like much of the country, both Mississippi and Massachusetts have struggled with issues of school integration and educational equity. In this MS+MA program, we will explore stories of school integration from both states. How did government-led efforts to racially integrate public schools play out in Boston and the Mississippi Delta in the 1970s? What was the impact on the diverse communities of both places? And what is the legacy of these struggles for education and racial equity today?
Guests will include:
Byron Rushing served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1983 to 2018. From 1972 to 1985, he led the Museum of Afro-American History in Boston. During the 1960’s he was active in the civil rights movement–working for the Congress of Racial Equality and for the Northern Student Movement.
Douglas Blackmon, a journalist, writer, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II. Blackmon is the director of the upcoming documentary film “The Harvest,” about school integration in his hometown of Leland, Mississippi.
Jeanne Middleton Hairston is an educator and activist. She was a professor of education at Millsaps College, her alma mater, for many years and later served as the National Director of the Freedom Schools Program for the Children’s Defense Fund. She currently serves as a member of the Jackson Public School Board.
Donna Bivens is a Boston-based community organizer, leadership trainer, and expert on building racial equity. From 2010-2014 she worked for the Union of Minority Neighborhoods, leading the Boston Busing/Desegregation Project to increase awareness of Boston’s busing and desegregation crisis and tell a more inclusive history of the city.
Questions? Please contact Molly McMillian at mmcmillan@mhc.state.ms.us.
