The Power of Our Convictions

Speaker: 
Documentary and Discussion with Freedom Rider Rip Patton and Facing History Staff
 
29 Mar 2011
 
12:10 PM
 
Pioneer Room, Memorial Union

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A faculty forum with Freedom Rider Rip Patton will follow the 60-minute preview of Freedom Riders, a documentary premiering on PBS in May 2011. The film chronicles the harrowing and ultimately inspirational story of six months in 1961 that changed America forever. From May until November 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives - and many endured savage beatings and imprisonment - for simply traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South. Deliberately violating Jim Crow laws, the Freedom Riders met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in nonviolent activism. In partnership with Facing History, Iowa State faculty will discuss the film and its implications for the lives of educators today. Concepts such as "universe of obligation" and flexible teaching strategies such as Big Paper and Town Hall Meeting will also be explored. Students and staff are welcome to attend this faculty forum.

Registration is required to attend this event. Lunch will be provided.
To register, go to AccessPlus > Employee tab> HRS Training > Courses.
Questions? Call CELT at 294-5357.

[b]Ernest "Rip" Patton, Jr., Freedom Rider[/b] The 21-year-old Tennessee State student was the drum major in the university marching band when in 1961 he became involved in the Nashville Movement. Patton arrived in Montgomery, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 23 to help reinforce the riders meeting at the home of Dr. Harris after the May 21 firebombing and siege of Montgomery's First Baptist Church. Ernest "Rip" Patton, Jr., took part in the May 24, 1961, Greyhound Freedom Ride to Jackson, Mississippi, where he was arrested and later transferred to Mississippi's notorious Parchman State Prison Farm. Patton was one of fourteen Tennessee State University students expelled for participating in the rides. Following the Freedom Rides, he worked as a jazz musician and later as a long-distance truck driver and community leader. For the past three years, Patton has served as the Freedom Rider on an annual university sponsored Civil Rights tour of the Deep South.