Buzz: Panel discussion on 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act

From 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, July 2nd at Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, the panel discussion event “Marching Forward: 60 Years After the Civil Rights Act” will focus on the impact of the landmark federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. 

10 Tampa Bay Emmy-award-winning reporter Emerald Morrow will moderate a conversation with authors Bill Maxwell, Beverly Coyle and Ray Arsenault.

“Maxwell and Coyle were among the last generation of Black and white Floridians to graduate from segregated schools, to sit in separate sections of the bus, and to drink from different water fountains,” an event description says. “They came of age just as the curtain was about to fall on Jim Crow race laws and customs. Arsenault, one of the nation’s leading civil rights historians, provides further insight on the social climate of the United States before and following the enactment of the Civil Rights Act. Maxwell and Coyle’s stories of living in segregated Florida are included in Florida Humanities' anthology, ‘Once Upon a Time in Florida: Stories of Life in the Land of Promises.’”

There’s a reception with light refreshments and book sales at 6:30 p.m. The main program starts at 7 p.m. Allendale United Methodist Church is located at 3803 Haines Rd. in St. Pete. The event is free. Registration is encouraged. The program is co-sponsored by Florida Humanities, Tombolo Books and Allendale United Methodist Church.

For more information and registration, go to Marching Forward: 60 Years After the Civil Rights Act.
 
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