CLU Civil Rights Class Explores ‘Legacy of Rosa Parks’ and others

Students in Dr. Gregory FreelandÆs Music and the Civil Rights class will have an opportunity to interview the filmmakers of Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks and to meet Ron Paris of The Platters as they learn about the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Both events coincide with the celebration of Black History Month at California Lutheran University.

Freeland, who also heads up CLUÆs Committee on Multicultural Thought, uses music and film to teach students about the African American struggle for equal rights in the United States in his popular Poli Sci 413 class.

On Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 10 a.m., filmmakers and producers Robert Hudson and Bobby Houston will discuss the making of Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks. In addition to being nominated for an Academy Award for best short documentary, the film won a Chris Award in the Social Issues category at the Columbus (Ohio) Film and Video Festival and a Grand Festival Award in the Education category at the Berkeley Video and Film Festival in 2002. In the film, Montgomery boycott participants and witnesses are joined by family members to tell the courageous story of Rosa Parks.

On Thursday, Feb. 19, at 10 a.m., Ron Paris, the former lead singer of The Platters will be a guest speaker (and a cappella singer) discussing his own firsthand experiences with music and the Civil Rights Movement.

In March, Freeland has invited Lanny Kaufer, a folksinger who worked with Martin Luther King, Jr., to share his experiences and to play music of the Civil Rights Movement on his guitar. Ethnologist Paul Cammer is also scheduled to discuss the significance or insignificance of race as a biological construct during the semester.

MEDIA NOTE: The Feb. 3 and Feb. 19 events will be held in the Nelson Room. For more information on these events, please contact Dr. Gregory Freeland directly at (805) 493–3477.