King Day speaker named for Beloit, Wisc., has Selma ties
Published 12:00 am Friday, January 4, 2008
Joanne Bland, co-founder and former director of the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute in Selma, will deliver the annual Martin Luther King Day Convocation address at 4 p.m. Jan. 21 in Eaton Chapel on the Beloit College campus.
Her talk is titled &8220;Living the Dream.&8221;
Bland began her civil rights activism in 1961 at the age of 8 when she attended a freedom and voter’s right meeting presided over by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In Selma, she marched on &8220;Bloody Sunday.&8221; At age 11, she was the youngest person jailed in the demonstrations.
She has recently opened &8220;Journey’s for the Soul,&8221; a program that is designed to teach the history of struggle in America.