David Hoffman | What Happened When She Stood Up Against Her Parents in the 60s? @DavidHoffmanFilmmaker | Uploaded September 2024 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
The speaker is Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons. I interviewed her in 1989 as part of my PBS television series on the 1960s. Read my description to see how her life transpired after her protesting years.
Today she is a professor of religion at the University of Florida. I liked her interview because she gave a sense of the beautiful idealistic innocence of those who wanted to improve civil rights, especially those who participated in the famous Mississippi Freedom Summer. As part of the Freedom Summer, Simmons helped build freedom schools and libraries in black communities in Mississippi.
Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons is known as a prominent civil rights activist, scholar, and spiritual leader who played a significant role in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
In the 1960s as she describes, Simmons became deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), one of the most influential organizations at the time. SNCC was instrumental in grassroots activism, organizing sit-ins, Freedom Rides, voter registration drives, and other direct-action protests across the American South to challenge racial segregation and disenfranchisement.
Simmons worked in dangerous conditions in the segregated South, focusing primarily on voter registration and advocating for racial justice. She took part in the Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964, which sought to empower Black citizens to register to vote despite intense opposition, harassment, and violence from white supremacists. The risk was high, but Simmons and her colleagues persevered to challenge the systematic oppression of African Americans.
After her civil rights activism, Simmons transitioned to academia and spirituality. She earned her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Temple University, focusing on issues of race, gender, and spirituality. Her scholarly work includes feminist and religious perspectives, particularly within the context of Islam. She is also an advocate for Sufism, a mystical form of Islam, and has taught extensively on Islamic traditions, ethics, and social justice.
As of recent years, Simmons is a professor emerita at the University of Florida, where she taught courses in religion, gender studies, and African American studies. She continues to be involved in activism, particularly around issues of racial justice, women's rights, and interfaith dialogue. Simmons is also deeply involved in promoting nonviolent action and has remained a vocal advocate for civil rights, both through her academic work and public speaking engagements.
Her life's work bridges the intersections of social activism, religious scholarship, and the pursuit of justice, focusing on how spiritual traditions can inspire change in the world.
The speaker is Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons. I interviewed her in 1989 as part of my PBS television series on the 1960s. Read my description to see how her life transpired after her protesting years.
Today she is a professor of religion at the University of Florida. I liked her interview because she gave a sense of the beautiful idealistic innocence of those who wanted to improve civil rights, especially those who participated in the famous Mississippi Freedom Summer. As part of the Freedom Summer, Simmons helped build freedom schools and libraries in black communities in Mississippi.
Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons is known as a prominent civil rights activist, scholar, and spiritual leader who played a significant role in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
In the 1960s as she describes, Simmons became deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), one of the most influential organizations at the time. SNCC was instrumental in grassroots activism, organizing sit-ins, Freedom Rides, voter registration drives, and other direct-action protests across the American South to challenge racial segregation and disenfranchisement.
Simmons worked in dangerous conditions in the segregated South, focusing primarily on voter registration and advocating for racial justice. She took part in the Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964, which sought to empower Black citizens to register to vote despite intense opposition, harassment, and violence from white supremacists. The risk was high, but Simmons and her colleagues persevered to challenge the systematic oppression of African Americans.
After her civil rights activism, Simmons transitioned to academia and spirituality. She earned her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Temple University, focusing on issues of race, gender, and spirituality. Her scholarly work includes feminist and religious perspectives, particularly within the context of Islam. She is also an advocate for Sufism, a mystical form of Islam, and has taught extensively on Islamic traditions, ethics, and social justice.
As of recent years, Simmons is a professor emerita at the University of Florida, where she taught courses in religion, gender studies, and African American studies. She continues to be involved in activism, particularly around issues of racial justice, women's rights, and interfaith dialogue. Simmons is also deeply involved in promoting nonviolent action and has remained a vocal advocate for civil rights, both through her academic work and public speaking engagements.
Her life's work bridges the intersections of social activism, religious scholarship, and the pursuit of justice, focusing on how spiritual traditions can inspire change in the world.
