The Civil Rights Movement and Grassroots Democracy: A Discussion with Charles E. Cobb

Fifty-six years ago, a small group of young people risked their lives to bring democracy and freedom to a totalitarian state. The state was Mississippi. The young people were activists in the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Former SNCC freedom fighter, founder of the 1964 Freedom School movement in Mississippi, educator, and writer, Charlie Cobb, will engage in a discussion with students about the connections between grassroots organizing for democracy in the South and its implications for today. How do memories of the fight for democracy shape the ongoing battle for racial and social justice in our own times? What lessons do the mobilization of young people on behalf of democracy and anti-racism during the 1960s hold for today’s activists? What is the legacy of SNCC?

Attendees are encouraged to watch the civil rights documentary, Freedom Summer, in which Charlie Cobb appears as an interviewee. 

This event was organized by Alex Lichtenstein, IU Department of History. Student panelists were Amane Brown-Sparks, Patrick Saling, and Sara Schumacher. The event was part of Themester 2020's focus on the theme of democracy.