Times Picayune, February 16, 2009
New Orleans City Council Vice President Arnie Fielkow and Council President Jackie Clarkson, together with their Council colleagues, will offer New Orleans citizens a special opportunity to learn more about New Orleanian Homer Plessy and his central involvement in the landmark United States Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson. The case is customarily cited as the beginning of the modern civil rights movement in the United States.
In a special presentation before the February 19th City Council meeting, Professor Keith Weldon Medley, author of We As Freemen, will lead the program with his narrative and visual presentation that explores Homer Plessy’s life and the Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 Supreme Court case. Narratives and a PowerPoint presentation will offer the viewing public an extraordinary opportunity to hear this intriguing story, perfectly timed to coincide with Black History Month.
Says Council Vice President Fielkow, “The Plessy v. Ferguson court case is one of the most important events in our nation’s history and drastically affected civil rights in our country for years. New Orleans played a central role in this history and I feel strongly that we must share this rich history with all New Orleans citizens, especially our youth.”
Invitations to attend the presentation in City Council Chambers have been extended to the schools of the Recovery School District (RSD), Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) and the Algiers Charter School Association (ACSA).
“I hope our remembrance of this landmark civil rights case, which originated in New Orleans, will foster a renewed commitment to equal rights and opportunity for all people in our City,” comments Council President Clarkson, who since 1992 has been involved in the effort to have the site of Homer Plessy’s planned arrest on a New Orleans railcar commemorated.
Descendents of Mr. Plessy and Mr. Ferguson, Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson, came together and formed the Plessy and Ferguson Foundation for Education and Outreach, with a mission to use public programs and the arts to teach the history of civil rights and the role of this particular case in American and New Orleans history. They have been
invited to participate, as well.
The presentation will start at 9AM on Thursday, February 19th in City Council Chambers. New Orleans Access Television (NOA-TV) will broadcast the program on the government access channel.
http://blog.nola.com/charterschools/2009/02/schools_invited_to_live_histor.html
