An MLK week documentary viewing and panel discussion, hosted by the Matthew J. Perry Chapter of the National Black Law Students Association on Jan. 17 in USC’s law school, showcased the efforts of African-American women actively engaged in the fight for equal rights.
This event was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders' contributions to the Civil Rights movement. The purpose of this particular panel was to honor the history and lesser-known individuals of the Civil Rights movement and engage individuals to take a stand in the continued fight for civil rights.
Aaron Greene, a third-year law school student at the USC School of Law and president of the Matthew J. Perry Chapter, was eager to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
“I believe that it is important not only to talk about what’s going on in the past and to talk about what’s going on now, but how can we utilize our gifts and abilities to talk about those issues, how can we be the Dr. Kings of our generation,” Greene said.
The panel was made up of Louise Brown, Jaribu Hill and Gicola Lane and mediated by Lashawnda Woods-Roberts, a recent USC law school graduate who works with the Appleseed Legal Justice Center.
Louise Brown was one of the nurse assistants that instigated the Charleston hospital workers' strike. Although this strike was unsuccessful, Kerry Taylor, who teaches at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, described the importance and impact that this strike had on South Carolina politics.
“The energy coming out of the Charleston strike led directly to grassroots voter mobilizations that manifested itself in the election of the first African-American elected officials into the state legislature, eventually the state senate, since Reconstruction," Taylor said.
Brown emphasized her experience in the hospital strike and her thoughts on the key to a successful strike or movement. She said that good leadership was necessary for the hospital strike and for any strike or movement to be successful
"You don't want to fight other people in the picket line, you don't want to do things out of the ordinary, you don't want to make noise like you in a high school picketing," Brown said. "Those in a strike got to do, but you got to turn it and get what you want, and by doing that you go to stand up with each other.”
Jaribu Hill currently works as a judge, human rights attorney and is actively involved with the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights. Gicola Lane is currently a community advocate and organizer and a leader of a nonprofit organization who works towards assisting low-income Nashville residents with their bail. She also aspires to run for city council office in Nashville, Tennessee.
Greene hopes that the Civil Rights movement can inspire individuals to take action today to continue the fight for civil rights for African-Americans.
“There are many people that contribute to movements and you can have a role in a movement, whether it is something that you are doing major in the front lines, whether you are in the background,” Greene said. There’s always something you can contribute.”