Civil rights legends to discuss voting rights

When Madison residents vote Tuesday, Nov. 5, it probably won’t cross their minds that they are exercising a constitutional right. Those who fought for those rights will never forget.

From Sunday, Oct. 27 through Wednesday, Oct. 30, Civil Rights activists from Selma, Ala., and Milwaukee will visit Madison to discuss their roles in the movement.

The group is made up of Joanne Bland, from Selma; the Rev. James Orange and Gordon Sellers, both from Atlanta; Vel Phillips, from Milwaukee; and Joe McClain, from Madison. Bland, Orange, and Sellers were part of the movement in Selma, and Phillips and McClain were part of the movement in Milwaukee.

“Milwaukee was nicknamed ‘the Selma of the north’ during the Civil Rights Movement,” says Tyina Steptoe, a graduate student in the history department, who participated in both the UW-Madison Freedom Ride and Journey to Selma trips. “We thought that inviting people from Milwaukee, as well as Selma, would help students understand that people struggled for civil rights in the north, too. Racism and the denial of civil rights was not just a southern thing; these injustices happened here as well,”

Events and discussions will take place throughout the three-day visit. Among the highlights:

• Monday, Oct. 28: Bland, Orange, and Sellers visit an East High School history class to tell stories and teach freedom songs. 8:30 -10 a.m. (Open to the media.)
• Monday, Oct. 28: A panel discussion, “Local People, Local Movements: Struggles for Civil Rights in Milwaukee and Selma,” with Bland, McClain, Orange, Phillips, and Sellers. 7-9 p.m., 2650 Mosse Humanities Building, UW–Madison. (Open to the public.)
• Tuesday, Oct. 29: “Stories from Selma: Voting Rights and the Road to Freedom.” Bland, Orange, and Sellers tell personal stories about the Civil Rights Movement and teach freedom songs. 5-7 p.m., Multicultural Student Center, Red Gym. (Open to the public.)

The following are short biographies of the group:

• Phillips was the first African-American woman to earn a UW–Madison law degree, the first woman and first African American to be elected to Milwaukee’s Common Council, a former Wisconsin secretary of state, and was recently named one of the five most significant political figures in Wisconsin history.
• Orange was a civil rights leader enlisted by Martin Luther King, Jr., and is a labor organizer and preacher.
• Bland is a civil rights activist, and co-founder and director of the National Voting Right Museum and Institute in Selma.
• Sellers is a political and community organizer, civil rights and labor activist, and a leader for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and AFL-CIO Actions.
• McClain is a former leader of The Commandos, a civil rights organization in Milwaukee, and a current activist in Madison.

UW-Madison students visited Selma during the Freedom Ride in 2001, a twelve-day summer session class that traveled to several cities historically significant in the Civil Rights Movement. Students traveled to Selma again this past summer with Journey to Selma, a ten-day educational service trip in which students helped to renovate and develop educational projects for the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute.

“These activists were courageous citizens fighting for civil rights. They have made it their life work. Listening to their stories makes you think about the power of grassroots organizing and the participation of young people then and today,” says Stephanie King, an advisor to the Freedom student organization. “Their visit to Madison is about to inspire and mobilize our campus community.”