Listen Thursday July 3, 2014 at noon and 8pm on 90.5 WESA, for a special rebroadcast of our June 17th show devoted to the anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Freedom Summer.
Voices from the Firing Line
CCAC Professor Ralph Proctor has just released his latest book Voices from the Firing Line: A Personal Account of the Pittsburgh Civil Rights Movement. He joined us to discuss the demonstrations and the methodology of those in the movement as well as the results achieved.
"Kennywood Park had a swimming pool, and we sued them and we got the right for black folks to swim in it. Before one black toe ever got into that water, they destroyed the pool.”
Freedom Summer
We remember the Freedom Summer of 1964, when college students traveled into the deep south to help African-Americans register to vote. Three students were murdered that summer in Mississippi including Andrew Goodman. Before she passed away in 2007, Goodman's mother Carolyn collaborated with author Brad Herzog on a book called My Mantelpiece, a Memoir of Survival and Social Justice.
"...when he left the room, she threw in some extra iodine and bandages into his duffel bag, figuring maybe he’ll get beat up a little, maybe he’ll get thrown in jail. Never did she imagine he would lose his life.”
Listen for more from Brad Herzog about Mrs. Goodman's reflections on that summer in 1964.
Race: Are We So Different?
Race: Are We So Different is one of the current exhibits at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Examining the history of how race has been defined and its impact on our lives we go behind the scenes of the exhibit with Cecile Shellman, communications and community specialist for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
"Some people may lack the skills or the interest or the vocabulary or the courage to talk about race. And this exhibition really does invite people in overt and unconscious ways to talk about race."
Hear more of what Cecile Shellman had to say about the exhibit.
To leave a question or comment before or after the show dial 412-256-8783. More Essential Pittsburgh segments can be heard here.