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Vanderbilt University issued the following news release:
Charles McDew, a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and its chairman from 1961 to 1964, will deliver the keynote lecture for Vanderbilt University's 2009 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Series.
The theme of this year's series is "Prophets, Politics and Patriotism." Events are scheduled Jan. 13-31 and are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
McDew's talk, "Votes, Voices and Victory: How far have we come?," is part of a celebration of King's legacy that will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 19, at Benton Chapel located at the university's Divinity School. The event will also feature student performances by Vanderbilt's Jeremiah Generation Praise Team and VU Spoken Word, as well as, Nashville a capella group Nu Image. A reception will precede the event at 5 p.m. in Benton Chapel.
In 1960, black college students organized to form SNCC to fight segregation. Under McDew's direction, SNCC hired organizers called field secretaries to develop local leadership in civil rights activities in small towns throughout the South. SNCC concentrated its efforts on voter registration, education and community organizing.
A screening of Freedom Song, a 2000 film made for television based on the accounts of SNCC members - particularly McDew, kicks off Vanderbilt's MLK Series Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. at Sarratt Cinema on campus. Vanderbilt Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education Lucius Outlaw will lead a discussion following the film.
Other events scheduled during the series include a Jan. 19 talk by Lesego Motsumi, minister of health for the Republic of...