HOLLAND, Mich. — Hope College has announced that the speaker for its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Lecture will be Sheyann Webb-Christburg. She will speak at Dimnent Memorial Chapel on Monday, January 16 at 2 p.m.
Webb-Christburg was one of the youngest activists during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s in Selma, Alabama. She was even named the “Smallest Freedom Fighter” by Dr. King himself.
Her lecture will focus on growing up in Selma during the Civil Rights Movement with Dr. King and others in the struggle to achieve the right to vote.
Prior to the lecture, there will be a commemorative march that begins at Hope College’s Haworth Hotel at 1:15 p.m. The march will conclude at Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
Webb-Chrisburg co-wrote the book Selma, Lord Selma: Girlhood Memories of the Civil Rights Days, which was published in 1980. In the book, Webb-Chrisburg shared her experience as the youngest person involved in the first attempted march from Selma to Montgomery across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965, which is known as Bloody Sunday. She also shared memories of the civil rights leaders at the time, including Dr. King, Jonathan Daniels, Viola Liuzzo, and Rev. James Reed.
Her book was later adapted into the television film Selma, Lord, Selma, which aired on ABC in 1999. Jurnee Smollett played Webb-Christburg in the film. The movie also starred Clifton Powell as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mackenzie Astin as Jonathan Daniels. It was directed by Charles Burnett. The film went on to be nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special.
On Tuesday, January 17, Selma, Lord Selma will be shown at the Knickerbocker Theatre at 6 p.m. After the film, Webb-Chrisburg will participate in a panel discussion, along with Hope College’s Dr. Chuck Green (professor emeritus of psychology) and Dr. Choonghee Han (professor of communication). The panel will be moderated by Shomari Tate, chaplain of discipleship at Hope College. Admission to the film and panel discussion will be free.
Webb-Chrisburg will speak at Dimnent Memorial Chapel on Monday, January 16. More information on the event can be found on Hope College’s website.
