Location
Montgomery, Alabama, 36104
About this event
Please join us for The Elmore Bolling Initiative's biennial fundraiser weekend in Montgomery, Alabama. Our theme is "Paving the Path to Truth and Justice."
On Friday, October 18th, Nikole Hannah-Jones, a Pulitzer and MacArthur award-winning journalist at the New York Times and the creator of The 1619 Project, will be our Gala speaker. Hannah-Jones embodies a steadfast commitment to truth and justice as she uses her voice to challenge established narratives and push society to confront uncomfortable truths about racial injustice and its enduring impact on American society.
6 pm at Alabama State University John Garrett Hardy Center
On Saturday, October 19th, we will tour the National Park Service Montgomery Interpretive Center on the campus of Alabama State University to learn about the 1965 voting rights movement, followed by a forum on Discrimination Against Black Farmers to address the long history of land theft and inequities in the administration of government farm programs for Black farmers. In the early 1900s, Elmore Bolling’s uncle was among the wealthiest Black men in Lowndes County before local white people swindled him out of his land, erasing his wealth. Systematic land dispossession and unequal treatment wiped out millions of Black farmers, amplifying the racial wealth gap that continues to this day.
8 am Bus transports guests from central Montogmery location (TBA) to Interpretive Center for tour from 8:15 am to 9:30 am
10 am Black Farmers Forum at Alabama State University Hardy Center
The weekend wraps up Sunday, October 20th, with a morning Lowndes County tour featuring historic sites: Lowndesboro School with its new History Revealed marker, SNCC Freedom Complex, Lowndes County Interpretive Center, Elmore Bolling Historic Site, and Selma to Montgomery March Campsite 3. This tour, with commentary by Josephine Bolling McCall and others, will provide a deeper understanding of Lowndes County’s profound impact on the Civil Rights Movement.
8 am Tour bus departs from central Montogmery location (TBA) for Lowndes County. Returns to Montgomery at approximately 1:30 pm.
