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Civil rights leaders, activists to share personal stories on work for Black equality

Michelle Rogers  |  Paste BN Network

Judy Richardson says you don’t have to be exceptionally strong or amazing to change the world for the better.

“It takes courage, persistence, planning and, often, organizing with your friends and neighbors,” said Richardson, who was a key member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee from 1963 to 1966. 

“In SNCC, we understood that it was regular folks … who were integral to the movement. Also, that young people and women were not just the troops, but the leaders.”

Richardson, now in her 70s and working as a documentarian and educator, is part of an upcoming night of personal storytelling dedicated to the experiences of notable civil rights leaders and those on the front lines of the continued work for Black equality.

"Uprisings: Stories about the Work of Civil Rights" will livestream at 5 p.m. PT/ 8 p.m. ET Sept. 24 on the Paste BN Storytellers Project’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. Megan Finnerty, founder and director of the Storytellers Project, and Mizell Stewart, senior director of talent, partnerships and strategy at the Paste BN Network, will emcee the show.  

Joining Richardson are: 

  • Derrick Johnson, NAACP president and CEO;
  • April Ryan, White House correspondent and Washington, D.C., bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks;
  • Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, activist and member of the Freedom Riders;
  • Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, co-executive director for the Highlander Research and Education Center.

“We believe that as the struggle for civil rights continues, context and insight through first-person, true stories can lead to empathy and understanding,” said Storytellers team member Evan Roberts, who conceived of the event.

Mulholland, 79, will bring the show a sense of historic perspective. She was a 19-year-old college student when she started participating in sit-ins and protests. Mulholland was arrested and sent to Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm, with other Freedom Riders for refusing to leave a segregated bus station waiting area. 

April Ryan, White House correspondent, author and speaker, will offer contemporary insights. 

Ryan will share her work documenting the grassroots.

"I think people are finding their voice at this moment," she said.

Organizations and individuals have been calling more attention to racism and inequality after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was arrested in Minneapolis on May 25 and died after a police officer knelt on his neck, sparking protests across the country. 

“The moment and the movement are not over yet,” said Ryan, 53. “I am not part of the movement, but I am part of the moment, chronicling it, telling the truth, exposing hypocrisy, exposing lies.”

Ryan said she agreed to tell a personal story for the show because she thinks it’s particularly poignant at this time.

“It’s important that you never let anyone else tell your story. And there have been so many people who have wanted to say who I am or what I am, and I am never letting anyone take my narrative,” she said.

Ryan’s overall message will be one of hope and perseverance.

“People should not be deterred,” she said, “because we matter. We are still part of that ‘We the People’ who are still forming a more perfect union. There are growing pains, but we are still forming.”

The storytelling night is part of a series of live, virtual shows planned through 2021 featuring a diverse makeup of storytellers sharing true stories based on their personal lives. Tellers are coached by journalists from across the Paste BN Network. Learn more at https://www.storytellersproject.com/about/.

Need to Know

  • What: “Uprisings: Stories about the pursuit for civil rights”
  • Where: The Storytellers Project’s Facebook Page and YouTube channel
  • When: 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on Sept. 24.
  • More: Watch past virtual shows here and recorded in-person shows here.

Upcoming Shows

  • Oct. 1: Entrepreneurship and Hustle
  • Oct. 22: Far from Alone
  • Oct. 29: I Am An American
  • Nov. 10: Veterans Stories
  • Nov. 19: Food and Family
  • Dec. 15: Holiday Stories
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