The Mississippi Freedom Project media collections include historian and activist panels, a documentary film on the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike, student-produced research discussions, and community organizing workshops from legendary veterans like Lawrence Guyot, Jr., director of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
SPOHP in the Delta: Year 6
- This student panel of University of Florida researchers gave a presentation at the Civic Media Center in Gainesville, Florida, on December 4, 2013. For six consecutive years, the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program has taken a group of students to the Delta region of Mississippi to collect oral histories of Civil Rights veterans, and to study Civil Rights history rich to the region. These returning students highlighted aspects of what each discovered: students Chelsea Carnes, Derick Gomez, and Brittney Hibbert, and graduate coordinator Jessica Taylor. 1:33:25 minutes.
Keep Your Trash (1971)
- Originally screened in 1971, “Keep Your Trash” is the first documentary film recounting the events of the historic 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers strike and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A young graduate student at the time, Churchill Roberts began working with a group called Memphis Search for Meaning Committee to collect footage and interviews about the strike shortly after Dr. King’s death, and completed the film during his time as a doctoral student at the University of Iowa. In subsequent years, Churchill Roberts became an award-winning film maker and a prominent professor in the College of Journalism at the University of Florida. His films include, Freedom Never Dies: The Legacy of Harry T. Moore” (2001), and “Negroes With Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power” (2006). Professor Roberts agreed to give a copy of Keep Your Trash to the Proctor Program to re-release for public educational use. Thanks to the George A. Smathers Libraries for assistance in the film’s re-release. 26:08 minutes
SPOHP in the Delta: Year 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8P1wB3wSOw
- The Civic Media Center hosted four researchers from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida who presented their impressions of the 2012 trip to the Mississippi Delta on January 15, 2013. Student Joanna Joseph, grad coordinators Jessica Taylor and Justin Dunnavant, and senior research staff member Diana Dombrowski spoke of the impact of what they experienced on the week-long trip. Dr. Paul Ortiz, director of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program and trip organizer, introduced the speakers and also informed the audience of the deep history of the Delta in Civil Rights history. A five-minute clip by organizer Lawrence Guyot described the empowerment of being engaged in the community. 1:26:53 minutes.
Civil Rights History: A Workshop Discussion with Akinyele Umoja
- Students from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program are participants in a discussion of Civil Rights history by professor Akinyele Umoja and veteran civil rights activist Margaret Block. The workshop was given in Cleveland, Mississippi on September 20, 2013. 1:45:52 minutes.
An Organizing Workshop with Lawrence Guyot
- An Organizing Workshop, facilitated by Lawrence Guyot. September 21, 2011, in Cleveland, Mississippi. The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program of the University of Florida leads an annual research team to the Mississippi Delta to both study civil rights history as well as collect oral histories related to the movement. This workshop was one of the highlights of the 2011 trip, and was instructed by none other than Mr. Lawrence Guyot, activist, organizer, and SNCC veteran. 1:18:16 minutes.
Chaos or Community: Where Do We Go From Here? 2011 Delta State Panel
- This is the 3rd Annual Civil Rights History Panel hosted by Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. Panelists are Rose Turner, Union Organizer, Charles Westmoreland, History Professor at Delta State University, and Lawrence Guyot, Veteran Civil Rights Activist. Moderators Paul Ortiz, History Professor, University of Florida, and Arlene Sanders, Professor at Delta State University. Featuring Poetry by Margaret Block. Sponsors Agora Club, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, Kappa Pi Chapter, Diversity Advisory Committee, and the Sam Block Civil Rights Foundation. September 21, 2011. 1:58:44 minutes.
go back for more Mississippi Freedom Project resources.