Submitted by the One Book, One Bedford Committee
The One Book, One Bedford program on Rep. John Lewis’s graphic-novel trilogy, MARCH, will close in early November with two noteworthy keynote speakers: NECN commentator Rev. Irene Monroe and Civil Rights activist Dr. Robert Parris Moses.
Rev. Irene Monroe
Rev. Irene Monroe will speak on Saturday, November 4, at 2 pm in the Town Hall Multipurpose Room. She is a speaker, writer, activist, and theologian whose work spans issues of civil rights, human rights, religion, queer theory, feminist studies, and more. Her talk for MARCH will bring the issues and events of MARCH into the present day, providing spiritual and personal guidance to help promote social activisms. Rev. Monroe will look at holistic and inclusive approaches to work on multiple issues — racism, xenophobia, misogyny, et al, with a particular focus on the African American experience — by addressing their complexity and intersectionality, and developing strategies and tactics that are just as important as understanding the issues.
Rev. Monroe is perhaps best known locally for her Monday segment, “All Revved Up!” (which is also now a podcast) on WGBH 89.7 FM, a Boston member station of National Public Radio (NPR). She is also a weekly Friday commentator on New England Channel NEWS (NECN) and has received many awards for her work, including the Bayard Rustin Service Award and the GLAD 2012 Spirit of Justice Award. She received the Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching several times while serving as head teaching fellow for the Rev. Peter Gomes, and her papers are at the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College. You can find out more about Rev. Monroe at www.irenemonroe.com.
Dr. Robert Parris Moses
On Sunday, November 5, Dr. Robert Parris Moses will be in conversation with Julie McCay Turner, at 2 pm at the John Glenn Middle School auditorium. Dr. Moses was the director of the Mississippi Project, the voter-registration drive chronicled in MARCH: BOOK THREE.
In his young adult life, Dr. Moses was a pivotal organizer for the civil rights movement as field secretary for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He was a driving force in organizing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), which challenged the Mississippi regulars at the 1964 Democratic Convention. A MacArthur Foundation Fellow from 1982–87, Dr. Moses used his fellowship to develop the concept for the Algebra Project, wherein mathematics literacy in today’s information age is as important to educational access and citizenship for inner-city and rural poor students, as the right to vote was to political access and citizenship for sharecroppers and day laborers in 1960s Mississippi. As founder and president of the Algebra Project Inc., Dr. Moses also serves as director of the project’s materials development program. Dr. Moses has received several college and university honorary degrees and honors, including the Heinz Award for the Human Condition and the Nation/Puffin Prize for Creative Citizenship.
About One Book, One Bedford ~ MARCH
The One Book, One Bedford program is open to all, with events planned for all ages and a variety of ways to participate. Books are available to borrow at the Bedford Library and can be purchased through traditional and online booksellers. More information on the program can be found at https://thebedfordcitizen.org/march/.
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