The Rev. Gil Caldwell and Marilyn Bennett visited the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. They will be at UT Dallas on Tuesday to screen and discuss their documentary, “From Selma to Stonewall: Are We There Yet?”
The Office of Diversity and Community Engagement will present a documentary and discussion next week about the intersection between the civil rights and LGBT+ equality movements.
The Black History Month event will feature a screening of the documentary “From Selma to Stonewall: Are We There Yet?” and a discussion with two prominent activists who produced the film and are featured in it — the Rev. Gil Caldwell and Marilyn Bennett.
The free event, open to the public, will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the McDermott Suite (MC 4.4). The event is hosted by the Carolyn Lipshy Galerstein Women’s Center and the Multicultural Center. To attend, register here.
Caldwell is a retired United Methodist Church minister, civil rights leader and author from Boston who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. Bennett is an LGBT+ activist and author who earned a Master of Divinity degree from Southern Methodist University Perkins School of Theology.
“‘From Selma to Stonewall’ is a great opportunity for the UT Dallas community to explore the similarities in and differences between the civil rights and LGBT+ equality movements, and learn from two activists who have spent their lives working for social change,” said Matt Johns, assistant director of the Galerstein Women’s Center. “We’re excited to present this event as part of Black History Month at UT Dallas.”
Michael Mims
Michael Mims, a PhD candidate in the School of Arts and Humanities whose dissertation focuses on the history of Dallas’ LGBT+ community, will moderate the discussion with Caldwell and Bennett.
“Social movements are important because they demonstrate the power that ordinary people have when they organize and remain determined to bring about change within society,” Mims said. “For example, the civil rights movement has shown us that even though a social movement might be met with a significant number of challenges, and that movement might last a long time, it can still produce some important achievements as long as participants of the movement stay focused on their goals.”
The event is one of several planned at UT Dallas to celebrate Black History Month, including:
- Saturday, Feb. 11 – Africa Night: Back to the Roots – Music, entertainment and food hosted by the Multicultural Center and African Student Union. 6:30 p.m., Student Services Building Addition Auditorium.
- Friday, Feb. 17 – All That Jazz: Line Dancing & Live Music – Line dancing lessons and history on swing dancing and jazz music, 7 p.m., Student Union Galaxy Rooms (SU 2.602).
- Thursday, Feb. 23 — The Big Dinner: African-American Heritage Celebration, 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Student Union Galaxy Rooms (SU 2.602).
A full list of Black History Month events is available here.