S2, E1: Commemorate Black History & Culture with Dr. Bernard Lafayette

Ujamaa Place: A Black Man’s Sketch

A Black Man's Sketch podcast hosted by Ujamaa Place CEO Otis Zanders, featuring Dr. Bernard Lafayette, author of "In Peace and Freedom." ABMS S2, E1 starts with a Black History Commemoration reflection from Ujamaa Man Cedric and Coaches Darnell and Andre on "What gives them hope today?," followed by a discussion about voting rights with Kevin Lindsey, CEO of MN Humanities Center.

Special guests' bios:

Dr. Bernard Lafayette

Today’s special guest, Dr. Bernard Lafayette has led a life of service by putting his own life on the life to uphold the values and beliefs that all persons are created equal. A student activist in the Nashville, Tennessee, sit-in campaign of 1960, and a longtime staff member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee(SNCC), Bernard Lafayette gained a reputation as a steadfast proponent of nonviolence before Martin Luther King offered him the position of program director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1967. Dr. Lafayette was born in Tampa, Florida, on 19 July 1940. In 1958 he moved to Nashville to attend American Baptist Theological Seminary. As a freshman, Lafayette began attending weekly meetings arranged by JamesLawson, a representative of the Fellowship of Reconciliation who had contacted King during the Montgomery bus boycott. Throughout 1958 and 1959, in partnership with Nashville’s SCLC affiliate, Lawson taught nonviolence techniques to Lafayette and his fellow Nashville students, including John Lewis, James Bevel, and DianeNash. Energized by Lawson’s classes and a weekend retreat at the Highlander Folk School, Dr. Lafayette and his friends began conducting sit-ins at segregated restaurants and businesses in 1959. When Ella Baker, under the auspices of SCLC, organized a conference of students on Easter weekend in 1960, Lafayette attended this conference that gave birth to SNCC. (Pronounced SNICK)

Kevin Lindsey

As former Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights from 2011 to 2019, Mr. Lindsey led the department to prominence as a positive change agent across Minnesota and nationally, defeating a photo-id Minnesota constitutional amendment, ensuring passage of the ban-the-box law, overseeing the nation’s largest statewide school suspension settlement, and transforming how people think about diversity and inclusion.

In his current role as the CEO of the Minnesota Humanities, Kevin seeks to create a just society that is curious, connected, and compassionate by working to create equity within schools, developing humanities programs, and, when funding is made available, the Minnesota Humanities also provides grants to community cultural organizations.

Kevin received his J.D. and B.S. in Political Science from the University of Iowa, where as a student he served as editor-in-chief of the Iowa Law Review. He was honored by his alma mater with the 2017 Iowa Law Review Distinguished Alumni Award.