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The Greensboro Historical Museum recently partnered with Guilford County Schools and the Greensboro Public Library to sponsor a teachers’ workshop on the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Millicent Brown, Associate Professor of History at NC A&T, spoke to educators from across Guilford County in early February.
A long-time activist for civil rights, Dr. Brown, is a board member of the Greensboro Historical Museum. In 1963, she was the chief plaintiff in a case that integrated the schools in South Carolina. Police brutality and educational equity are two of her present-day social justice passions.
For the teachers’ workshop, Dr. Brown connected civil rights history to local and contemporary history. Her presentation included the following topics: historians as activists; resources for teaching; historical misinterpretations; various phases of the movement; and the psychological ramifications of white supremacy.
“I hope that I opened eyes of teachers to the ties that the Civil Rights Movement has to local and contemporary issues,” says Dr. Brown. “Teachers have an obligation to enlighten students about efforts to transform society, and the Civil Rights Movement is about transformation. It is critical to all of our futures that we convince young people of their civic responsibilities and show them what it means to be a citizen of this nation.”
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