Shearer presents civil rights workshop in observance of Martin Luther King Day

Havre Daily News staff

Tobin Miller Shearer will be in Havre Tuesday for a presentation in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, presenting “Making Struggle Count: Lessons from the Civil Rights Movement for Today” in the Student Union Building Ballroom at Montana State University-Northern.

Shearer is the director of African-American Studies at the University of Montana where he is also an associate professor of history. His most recent book is “Two Weeks Every Summer: Fresh Air Children and the Problem of Race in America” (Cornell University Press: 2017). He is a frequent writer, speaker and commentator on historical and contemporary issues of race, religion and the civil rights movement.

Shearer describes his presentation as showing how the campaigns, strategies, and tactics from the Civil Rights era offer essential lessons for today’s world. The workshop will introduce participants to nonviolence theory, illustrative stories from civil rights era successes and failures, and civil rights era debates about the role of armed self-defense. Based on the presenter’s 30 years of research into, writing about and involvement in social change movements, the session will combine theory, practice and inspiring narratives.

  The presentation will run from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the SUB, with refreshments provided.