Civil Rights Pilgrimage Will Be Broadcasted On Utah Public Radio
Jason Gilmore, Utah State University assistant professor of global communications, is taking two USU students, along with 51 other people on a Civil Rights pilgrimage to the South.
Utah Public Radio will make it possible for those not participating to join the trip through the radio. The group is called 54 Strong because as Gilmore says “we go together.”
Each week in March, listeners will hear a new story on Utah Public Radio from the group, focusing on the women of Civil Rights.
“We want to focus on music and the role that women played in bringing music into the Civil Rights Movement,” said Gilmore. “A second story we will focus on [is] the Equal Rights Initiative which is in Montgomery, Alabama. This is a place that works with incarcerated individuals who may have been falsely incarcerated or unnecessarily on death row.”
Other stories include girl marches of the Civil Rights Movement and one woman who set up safe houses to protect those in danger. These stories were specifically chosen to have a mix of historical and contemporary themes.
Gilmore said one purpose of the pilgrimage is to have difficult conversations with his students about race relations and racial inequality.
“We’re not only in very intense situations in the South, but at the same time … we also realize the triumphant spaces. Where people came, even at risk of death, of losing their jobs, of losing their livelihoods, to come together and march for their rights. So there’s also these incredibly triumphant spaces.”
Gilmore and his group will visit places like Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, and Memphis, Tennessee.
This is the second year Utah Public Radio has broadcasted the pilgrimage. Last year’s trip focused on the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement. Those segments can be found at UPR.org. This year’s segments can be heard every Tuesday during “All Things Considered” and every Wednesday during “Morning Edition.”
Programing for the pilgrimage is made possible by the USU Access and Diversity Center and the Diversity Council.
Utah Public Radio broadcasts from the main campus of Utah State University in Logan and is a service of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, providing national news and public radio programming as well as local Utah news on a statewide network of translators. Tune to 91.5 or 89.5 FM in Logan or listen online.
Source: Utah Public Radio
Contact: Dani Hayes, assistant news director/producer, 435-797-3138
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