From Civil War to Black Lives Matter is presented as part of the Common Grounds \;series\, co-hosted by Roxbury Coalition for Social Change and the Roxbury Public Li brary. \; This series explores and facilitates civil conversations on race\, political beliefs\, gender\, creed\, and more\, celebrating diversi ty in Roxbury. Virtual events are open to all. Past and Upcoming events in clude Skills for Bridging the Political Divide Workshop led by Braver Ange ls on September 29\; How She Leads Panel on October 21\, On Race and Racis m: A Roxbury Conversation on December 2 and upcoming presentations include LGBTQ+ 101\, A Conversation about Allyship\, and A Viewing of the film Br ian Banks and subsequent discussion. \; \;
\nTh e Black Lives Matter Movement of the 21st century inherited a 400-year leg acy of social justice activism. This presentation and discussion will expl ore the ways Black people and their allies have organized and fought for f reedom\, racial equality\, and social justice from the periods of enslavem ent and Reconstruction to the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements.
\nThe lecture will be presented by Dr. Lillie Johnson Edwards\, Ph.D.\, and the post-lecture discussion will be moderated by Ollie Starne s\, who graduated from Roxbury High School in 2006.
\nDr. Li llie Johnson Edwards is Professor Emerita of History and African American studies at Drew University in Madison\, NJ where she served for t wenty-three years\, including as the founding Director of Pan-African Stud ies and Director of American Studies. She received two university faculty service awards and two teaching awards. \; Dr. Edwards is a Phi Beta K appa graduate of Oberlin College where she received the Distinguished Alum ni Award in 2002. She currently serves on Oberlin&rsquo\;s Board of Truste es where she is chair of the Academic Affairs Committee and former chair o f Oberlin&rsquo\;s 2016-2017 Presidential Search Committee. \; She rec eived her doctorate from the University of Chicago\, and has published sev eral articles on African American women and African American religion in e ncyclopedia and anthologies. Her biography of Denmark Vesey for middle sch ool students won the New York Public Library &ldquo\;Book for the Teen Age .&rdquo\; As a public intellectual committed to bringing African American studies to adult audiences and K-12 classrooms\, Dr. Edwards lectures and consults with libraries and archives\, historical societies and museums\, faith-based communities\, and school districts. She served from 2002-2020 as a gubernatorial appointee and charter member of the New Jersey Amistad Commission\, co-chair of its Curriculum Committee\, chair of the Executive Committee\, and co-author of the New Jersey Amistad Bill signed by Govern or Phil Murphy in 2021.
\nDr. Edwards is a life member of the NAACP\ , the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and t he Association of Black Women Historians. She currently serves as the chai r of the church council of The Mark Montclair\, a United Methodist congreg ation in Montclair\, NJ. \; Dr. Edwards is proud of her family roots i n Columbus\, GA. She and her husband\, Paul B. Edwards\, have two adult ch ildren and currently reside in Montclair\, NJ and Pensacola Beach\, FL.
\nOllie Starnes\, Moderator\, was born in 1988 at Mor ristown Memorial Hospital. His family moved repeatedly across the county f rom Morristown\, to Randolph\, and Budd Lake before settling on Woods Edge Drive in Succasunna. Ollie attended Jefferson Elementary\, Lincoln-Roosev elt\, then Eisenhower Middle School before his family moved to Ledgewood\, where Ollie&rsquo\;s primary education culminated as a member of the 2006 Roxbury High School graduating class. Ollie chose to pursue higher educat ion at Trinity College in Hartford\, CT and returned home with degrees in Political Science (B.A.) and Public Policy (MPP). \; Since 2014\, Olli e has been actively involved with grass-roots community organizing through out Morris County. In 2015\, he served as Campaign Manager for Dan Kline ( RHS &rsquo\;06) who became Roxbury&rsquo\;s youngest-ever Councilman and t he first Democrat on Township Council since 2003. In 2020\, Ollie was appo inted to the Morris County Human Relations Commission\, the Morris County NAACP Executive Committee\, and currently serves as Executive Director at the Sankofa Heritage Collective of Morris County. \;
\nRegister online or by calling the Library at 973 584-2400.
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