Accompanying: The Journey of Staughton and Alice Lynd—A Documentary Viewing & Panel Conversation

Join the Leadership Center for Social Justice and the Justice and Peace Studies program at the University of St. Thomas as we view a documentary about the life of Quaker activists Staughton and Alice Lynd. Accompanying: The Journey of Staughton and Alice Lynd is a documentary by Catherine Murphy that covers the Lynds’ remarkable partnership in social justice struggles over seven decades, including Staughton’s time as director of the SNCC Freedom Schools and their opposition to the Vietnam War. After watching clips from the film, enjoy a panel discussion about the Lynds.

The Panelists

We are delighted to announced that Alice Lynd will be joining us through Zoom as will our three expert panelists:

• Marcus Rediker—Marcus Rediker is the Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History at the University of Pittsburgh. His “histories from below,” including The Slave Ship: A Human History, have won numerous awards, including the George Washington Book Prize, and have been translated into 17 languages worldwide. He produced a film, Ghosts of Amistad, with director Tony Buba, and wrote a play, “The Return of Benjamin Lay,” with playwright Naomi Wallace. 

• Zoharah Simmons—Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons is a human rights activist, a scholar of women in Islam, and faculty member in the Department of Religion at the University of Florida, Gainesville. A former leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Laurel, Mississippi and Atlanta, Georgia, Simmons helped found independent Black political organizations in the 1970s. She is also a Sufi Muslim who draws on the compassion and inclusiveness of her faith in her work. In 2016, at the invitation of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, she lectured in four European countries about the history and meaning of the African American freedom movement.

• Catherine Murphy—An independent producer, Catherine Murphy focuses primarily on social documentaries. She has field-produced films like Saul Landau’s, Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up? and Eugene Corr’s From Ghost Town to Havana. Catherine also served on Gay Cuba’s production crew and subtitled Stealing America by Dorothy Fadiman, Jaime Kibben’s The Greening of Cuba, and Out and Refusenicks by Sonja de Vries. While in Caracas in 2009, Catherine founded Tres Musas Producciones, a collaborative production house of independent women producers working in film, music, and literature. Eduardo Galeano published four short stories based on her interviews in his most penultimate book, Espejos.

Rev. Dr. Ry Siggelkow, director of the Leadership Center for Social Justice, is moderating the event. East Side Freedom Library, Maestra Productions, and the Justice and Peace Studies Program at the University of St. Thomas are co-sponsors. 

Timing/Location for the Event

The evening will begin at 6:00 PM CT on Wednesday, April 10 and will take place in person inside the O’Shaughnessy Education Center (OEC) Auditorium at the University of St. Thomas (off Cleveland Avenue). Enjoy snacks and refreshments before the event.

Register Below