MLK

2008 MLK Civil Rights Dialogue Breakfast

Monday, Jan. 21, dawned cold and clear on the hill as Hellen O'Neal-McCray and Flonzie Brown-Wright, two activists from the civil rights era, met for a breakfast dialogue on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Brown-Wright and O'Neal-McCray were part of the 1964 Freedom Summer Project, which focused on voter registration and the education of black students. Their memories and observations created a profound retelling of pivotal moments in American history.

The Burton D. Morgan Welsh Hills room created an open yet intimate setting for Hellen O'Neal-McCray (left) and Flonzie Brown-Wright (right) as they shared powerful stories about their lives and the role of women in the struggle for civil and human rights.

Hellen O'Neal-McCray and Flonzie Brown-Wright

O'Neal-McCray recalled how upset her family was when she withdrew from college, despite being the first in her family to attend, to participate in the demonstrations of 1961. Today she is a professor at Wilberforce University.

Hellen O'Neal-McCray

Flonzie Brown-Wright recounted her frustrated attempts to register to vote and how she vowed to register and to hold the job of the man who denied her registration. She fulfilled her vow, becoming the first person of color to hold an elected position in the State of Mississippi. Today, she is an author, lecturer and scholar-in-residence at Miami University, Middletown. Flonzie Brown-Wright	Brown-Wright closed the event by leading the audience in song. Brown-Wright led in song	O'Neal-McCray and Brown-Wright left those who gathered feeling deeply grateful, enlightened and hopeful. O'Neal-McCray and Brown-Wright embrace	O'Neal-McCray and Lisa Scott, director of institutional equity and diversity, shared a poignant moment. O'Neal-McCray and Lisa Scott
Denison students created their own dialogue Denison students sharing a laugh