Celebrating Medgar Evers’ Legacy
- Evers High School Youth Congress – June 11, 2013
- Youth Creative and Academic Project Competition – Due May 10, 2013
- Youth Community Activist Award
- A Year-Long Youth Initiative
*Click here to download a .pdf of the "Dedicated to the Cause of Freedom" flyer.
"Dedicated to the Cause of Freedom" Evers High School Youth Congress – June 11, 2013
Click here to register to participate in the Youth Congress.
We invite all Mississippi eighth grade through twelfth grade students to participate in a day-long youth congress on June 11, 2013, in order to support the creation of a student-drafted youth platform for positive social change for Mississippi. The Youth Congress will take place at the Cabot Lodge Millsaps in Jackson.
Students will:
- Expand their knowledge of, understanding of, and appreciation for Medgar Evers’ civil rights legacy and its significance for understanding the responsibilities that youth have to their communities and as models for current youth leadership and activism in Mississippi
- Receive training on community building exercises and organizing strategies in order to best understand and identify the needs of their communities.
- Receive training on how Medgar Evers’ strategies may be used by today’s youth to realize equity goals.
- Understand that leadership and agency are crucial to community success.
Registration for the conference begins at 10:00 AM. Presentations and the reception will take place 5:30-7:30 PM. Parents and family members are welcome to attend the reception. If they are only attending the reception, they still need to register.
Registration and participation in the conference are free.
If you have any questions about the Youth Congress, contact Von at von@winterinstitute.org.
"Dedicated to the Cause of Freedom" Youth Competition
Deadline Friday, May 10, 2013
Connected to the Evers High School Youth Congress held on June 11, 2013, the Evers and Winter Institutes are holding a competition. Each student is encouraged to submit a multimedia presentation or project about an overlooked civil rights figure in his/her community who fought for equity and justice.
Awards will be given in two categories:
- Creative, including film, music, visual art, performance, and creative writing.
- Academic, including documentary/film, PowerPoint, and written essay.
Click here to learn more about submitting a project.
Five winners will be selected to present their work at the Evers High School Youth Congress on June 11, 2013, at Cabot Lodge Millsaps.
All submissions will also be included on the Mississippi Civil Rights Project web site, which documents the civil rights history of all eighty-two counties. http://mscivilrightsproject.org/
In addition, we encourage simultaneous submissions to our partner organizations: National History Day in Mississippi http://www.usm.edu/history/NHD/Welcome.html and the Mississippi Writers Guild: http://www.mississippiwritersguild.com/.
If you have any questions about the Youth Congress, contact Von at von@winterinstitute.org.
“Dedicated to the Cause of Freedom” Youth Community Activist Award
Deadline for Nominations: May 10, 2013
Additionally, to celebrate Medgar Evers’ legacy and contributions to civil rights history, we are also proud to announce the first ever Winter Institute youth community activist award. Students are encouraged to nominate their peers who have demonstrated work as change agents in their communities. Adult mentors are also encouraged to nominate youth.
To nominate a student, click here.
For more information on Medgar Evers, visit: http://mshistorynow.mdah.state.ms.us/articles/53/medgar-evers-and-the-origin-of- the-civil-rights-movement-in-mississippi
"Dedicated to the Cause of Freedom": A Year-Long Youth Initiative Commemorating the Life and Legacy of Medgar Evers
“We are dedicated to the cause of freedom and will continue to fight under God’s laws without fear of consequences.” Medgar Evers, May 31, 1959
June 12, 2013, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Mississippi civil rights activist Medgar Evers.
The William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation will support a year-long initiative in Mississippi schools and communities beginning in August 2012. We seek to support eighth through twelfth graders and their teachers as they learn about the civil rights era and its legacies today, especially through understanding local history and the life and legacy of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. We hope that students will learn, document, and share the stories of overlooked figures in their communities who fought for equity and justice.
Using oral histories, students will develop a variety of necessary skills including research, listening, writing, and literacy. They will also develop an appreciation for the ways in which ordinary citizens worked to make their communities better. As the project evolves we will provide: oral history training, online lessons, small grants for project development.
A larger goal of this work statewide will be to critically analyze the kinds of stories history tells. Using resources from the Storytelling Project, young people are encouraged to see themselves as makers of history who can learn about and build upon concealed stories and resistance stories to create their own emerging/transforming stories about working for justice (for more information on the Storytelling Project: http://education.barnard.edu/The%20Storytelling%20Project)
Medgar Evers Timeline
Teaching resources:
Themes for Teaching about Medgar Evers