Call for Submissions: 64th Anniversary Observance of the Tallahassee Bus Boycott

May 26, 2020, will mark the 64th Anniversary of two female students from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson, sitting down in the “whites only” section of a segregated bus in the city of Tallahassee. When they refused to move to the “colored” section at the rear of the bus, the driver pulled into a service station and called the police. Tallahassee police arrested Jakes and Patterson and charged them with “placing themselves in a position to incite a riot.”

In the days immediately following their arrests, students at FAMU organized a campus-wide boycott of city buses. Their collective stand against segregation set an example that propelled like-minded Tallahassee citizens into action.

Through courageous nonviolent protest, boycotters in Tallahassee achieved an important victory in the struggle for civil rights. The case in Tallahassee proved that a commitment to nonviolence could achieve significant results towards equality.

To honor the efforts of Wilhelmina Jakes, Carrie Patterson, students, and others, the May 21 – 22, 2020, Anniversary Observances will serve as a reminder of many community successes and the need for continued activism to make our communities better and welcoming to all citizens.  Visit our web site (www.neec-inc.org) and click on TAL Bus Boycott for the May 2020 agenda.

As part of the 2020 Observance the Planning Committee is soliciting papers, panel sessions, performances, artistic productions, and workshops for the year-long series of activities and programs.  The Observance theme is “Honoring the Past and Embracing the Future.”  While the Observance program planning committee welcomes papers, panels and artistic productions on any aspect of human and civil rights, priority will be given to submissions directly related to the Observance theme.

The deadline for submission of paper, panel and artistic production proposals is May 1, 2020.  Proposals should be submitted electronically and must include the following: title of paper or panel, author (s) name and affiliation (s), 200 to 250-word abstract of the proposal, and contact information.  Proposals should be submitted to kdparker@neec-inc.org.