Making Democracy Work; Martin Luther King & The Struggle for Voting Rights

Date: 

Friday, March 26, 2021, 1:00pm to 3:00pm

Location: 

Online

Professor David A. Moss, author of the acclaimed book “Democracy: A Case Study,” makes history come alive with an audience-driven discussion of a pivotal moment in our past. The year was 1965. The Constitution, “declared that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged … on account of race,” but the reality in the South was far different. Martin Luther King Jr. was building support for African-American voting rights, one protest at a time. The political pressures upon him, from the White House on down, were enormous. 

By stepping into the shoes of your predecessors – and facing the decisions they faced – you’ll see both the past and the present in a whole new light.

King and his aides faced some fundamental questions – How do we make reality comply with our constitutional ideals? What’s the best way to push for change? –and struggled mightily to answer them.

Professor Moss will put these same questions to us again bringing his wildly popular Harvard course on American democracy to a new stage in this public forum hosted by the Office for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging and the American Repertory Theater.

There will be a short, pre-event reading distributed to participants to prepare, and a lively, in-depth discussion during the program. Join in an interactive audience experience as you grapple with the fundamental challenges of democracy far away from the din of cable news or Twitter trolls.

Bring your ideas, and leave your preconceptions at the door. It will be an afternoon that challenges the way you think about America’s civic life – and your place in it.

Click here to learn more and register.