Danny Glover to Serve as Keynote Speaker for U of C’s Freedom Summer Commemoration Event

Deborah Bayliss | As of Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Actor and activist Danny Glover is the featured speaker for the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture's (SRPC) annual public lecture that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Summer Project, a 1964 effort that took Northern college students to Mississippi to support African-American's right to vote in that state and resulted in the death of three Civil Rights Workers.
Actor and activist Danny Glover is the featured speaker for the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture's (SRPC) annual public lecture that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Summer Project, a 1964 effort that took Northern college students to Mississippi to support African-American's right to vote in that state and resulted in the death of three Civil Rights Workers.

Actor and activist Danny Glover is the featured speaker for the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture’s (SRPC) annual public lecture that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Summer Project, a 1964 effort that took Northern college students to Mississippi to support African-

American's right to vote in that state and resulted in the death of three Civil Rights Workers.

An article by Borgna Brunner on the US Embassy’s website, chronicles the story: On June 21, 1964, three young civil rights workers—a 21-year-old black Mississippian, James Chaney, and two white New Yorkers, Andrew Goodman, 20, and Michael Schwerner, 24—were murdered near Philadelphia, in Nashoba County, Mississippi. (All three) had been working to register black voters in Mississippi during Freedom Summer and had gone to investigate the burning of a black church. They were arrested by the police on trumped-up charges, imprisoned for several hours, and then released after dark into the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, who beat and murdered them. It was later proven in court that a conspiracy existed between members of Neshoba County's law enforcement and the Ku Klux Klan to kill them.

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On June 21, 1964, three young civil rights workers--a 21-year-old Mississippian, James Chaney (center), and two white New Yorkers, Andrew Goodman, 20, and Michael Schwerner (far left), 24--were murdered near Philadelphia, in Nashoba County, Mississippi. (All three) had been working to register black voters in Mississippi during Freedom Summer and had gone to investigate the burning of a black church. They were arrested by the police on trumped-up charges, imprisoned for several hours, and then released after dark into the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, who beat and murdered them.

The FBI arrested 18 men in Oct. 1964, but state prosecutors refused to try the case, claiming lack of evidence. The federal government then stepped in, and the FBI arrested 18 in connection with the killings. In 1967, seven men were convicted on federal conspiracy charges and given sentences of three to ten years, but none served more than six. No one was tried on the charge or murder. The contemptible words of the presiding federal judge, William Cox, give an indication of Mississippi's version of justice at the time: "They killed one ni---r, one Jew, and a white man. I gave them all what I thought they deserved." Another eight defendants were acquitted by their all-white juries, and another three ended in mistrials. One of those mistrials freed Edgar Ray "Preacher" Killen—believed to be the ringleader—after the jury in his case was deadlocked by one member who said she couldn't bear to convict a preacher.

On Jan. 7, 2005, four decades after the crime, Edgar Ray Killen, then 80, was charged with three counts of murder. He was accused of orchestrating the killings and assembling the mob that killed the three men. On June 21—the 41st anniversary of the murders—Killen was convicted on three counts of manslaughter, a lesser charge. He received the maximum sentence, 60 years in prison. The grand jury declined to call for the arrest of the seven other living members of the original group of 18 suspects arrested in 1967.

The freedom event, part of University of Chicago’s Office of Civic Engagement’s free, public engagement series, is scheduled for 4 p.m., May 4, at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn and is on a first come basis with doors opening at 3:30 p.m.

The annual lecture features prominent leaders in the fields of art and activism.

Glover, perhaps best known for his roles in Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple and in four Lethal Weapon movies alongside Mel Gibson, will participate in a discussion with Jacqueline Stewart, Professor of Cinema & Media Studies at the University of Chicago.

Glover also has been lauded for his extensive activism and philanthropic efforts, including advocating for economic justice and access to healthcare and education in the United States and Africa.

“Mr. Glover became an activist as a college student and his sustained commitment to social justice activism makes him the ideal person to discuss the legacy of the 1960s’ Civil Rights Movement and the challenges ahead for this generation of activists, artists and intellectuals,” said Tracye Matthews, associate director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture.

University of Chicago co-sponsors of the event include the Institute of Politics, the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, the Organization of Black Students, Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, and the Office of Civic Engagement.

The Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture will host a two-day symposium, “Freedom Summer after 50 Years: Looking Back & Looking Forward” on May 12 and 13, featuring individuals who participated in the Freedom Summer Project.

The event will also be cablecast live on CAN-TV Channel 27 and streamed live at http://cantv.org/watch/. For more information about Freedom Summer programming, visit the Facebook page for the event.

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