Joseph Lowery, George Wallace Jr. to Take Part in SGA Civil Rights Symposium at UA Feb. 21

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama Student Government Association is hosting the 2006 Civil Rights Symposium and Roundtable on Tuesday, Feb. 21 from 1-3 p.m. in the Moody Music Concert Hall as part of African-American Heritage Month events on campus.

This year’s panelists include Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, George C. Wallace Jr., Stephen Foster Black, Dr. William Stewart and Judge John H. England Jr.

The two-hour event will feature roundtable discussion and historical background.

The distinguished panel will address the audience concerning their own experiences with and in the Alabama Civil Rights Movement and offer their own perspectives regarding where the state has been, where it is today, and where it is headed tomorrow with respect to human rights and equality under law.

Born in Huntsville, Dr. Joseph E. Lowery has been called the “dean of the civil rights movement” in America. He began his work in civil rights in Mobile, where he headed the Alabama Civic Affairs Association, an organization devoted to the desegregation of buses and public places. In 1957, Lowery and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Lowery was named the vice president of the organization. In 1965, he was named chairman of the delegation which took demands of the Selma-to-Montgomery March to Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace.

Lowery is co-founder of the Black Leadership Forum, a consortium of advocacy groups, and he has worked tirelessly in the effort to advance voting rights for minority citizens. He is recipient of the NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award. Lowery presently serves as chairman of the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda and president emeritus of the SCLC, both based in Atlanta.

As the son of two of Alabama’s legendary governors, George C. Wallace Jr. has enjoyed a most unique perspective on the advancement of civil and human rights in Alabama. Growing up in the governor’s mansion was ‘routine’ for the young Wallace, since his mother and father served more combined years as Alabama governors than any other people in state history. He saw, firsthand, many of the historical events that shaped the history of this state during the early, middle and latter years of the Civil Rights Movement.

In 1986 and again in 1990, Wallace was elected Alabama State Treasurer, where he served two four-year terms. He was later employed by the Center for Government and Public Affairs at Auburn University at Montgomery. In 1998 Wallace was elected to the Alabama Public Service Commission.

Stephen Foster Black, grandson of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black of Alabama, is a recent and important addition to the faculty. As director of the UA Initiative for Ethics and Social Responsibility, the values and skills of citizenship are hoped to be made a hallmark of a UA education. According to UA President Robert E. Witt, “The University of Alabama has a critical role to play in preparing students to serve as effective, engaged and ethical citizens.” Black has said that the IESR will seek to better connect social responsibility and ethical development with the academic mission of UA.

As a long-time member of the UA faculty, and now as professor emeritus of the UA political science department, Dr. William Stewart has probably been more sought-after as a political analyst than any other member of the state’s academic community. He is widely respected for his extensive knowledge of Alabama history and for an uncanny ability to make complex political and government issues understandable and manageable. As an observer of the Alabama political scene for the past four decades, Stewart is in a position to draw upon his vast storehouse of information and experience, and to give an in-depth view of the birth, growth and development of the modern Civil Rights Movement.

The Hon. John Henry England Jr. is a judge for the 6th Judicial Circuit in Tuscaloosa County. He is a 1974 graduate of the UA Law School. England worked as an attorney in private practice in Tuscaloosa for nearly 20 years. Prior to his tenure as circuit court judge, England served on the Tuscaloosa City Council. England is currently a member of the UA Board of Trustees. He will be asked to address the audience last, in summary format, to give him an opportunity to speak to comments from other panelists and to present his vision for the University for the next decade of development. Organizers expect Judge England to provide an effective epilogue to the event, with particular emphasis on the unique position UA has occupied in the modern Civil Rights Movement.

Justice Smyth, SGA vice president of student affairs, will serve as the event’s moderator. He will introduce the panelists to the audience and the media, and he will field or direct questions from the audience during the roundtable portion of the event.

For more information, contact Smyth at 205/348-6122, smyth004@bama.ua.edu or Matthew Lewis at lewis132@bama.ua.edu.