Discussing the Importance of Several Iconic Civil Rights Figures

This week has been a monumental–if sad–and noteworthy one: in addition to the passing of Steve Jobs, it marked the passing of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, the great Civil Rights activist in Birmingham, Ala., at age 89; and the death of 80-year-old Derrick Bell, one of the architects of critical race theory and a law professor at Harvard who refused to return to his teachings until the university hired a woman of color. However, the month holds happier occasions as well, including the birthday of Joseph Lowery, one of the founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King Jr., and the upcoming 70th birthday of the Rev. Jesse Jackson. In light of these milestones, Mark Anthony Neal, a professor at Duke University, discusses the importance of the Civil Rights movement and its icons, among a generation of youth that has been accused of having forgotten the struggle of the times before them.

Listen Now: Marc Anthony Neal