PROGRAM CHANGE
Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, Ms. JoAnne Bland will not be able to join us. While we will certainly miss her, we are excited to announce that her sister, Lynda Blackmon Lowery, will be stepping in as our keynote speaker. We look forward to hearing her inspiring message!
Lynda Blackmon Lowery has been a key figure in the civil rights movement since the early 1960s. A member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), she marched in pivotal events like "Bloody Sunday" and "Turn Around Tuesday" and was the youngest marcher in the historic Selma to Montgomery March. Beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge during Bloody Sunday, she required 35 stitches. Her early activism against Jim Crow laid the foundation for her lifelong work in civil and human rights. She is also the author of Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March.
For more information about Ms Lowery, please see these links:
Although it may be chilly outside Monday morning, but Yankee Trace will be warm with fellowship, understanding, and acceptance. We look forward to welcoming you for this engaging and inspiring presentation!
The annual breakfast, made possible by generous community sponsors, will take place at 7:30
AM at the Golf Club at Yankee Trace. Tickets are $25 and although we are sold out, we have been able to add a couple more tickets. They will go FAST! Use the link below today!
Complete Bio of Lynda Bockmon Lowery
Lynda Blackmon Lowery is the first child of four children born to Alfred Charles and Ludie Wright Blackmon, she is the Widow of Collie C Lowery. She is a mother of two, Danita Christine Blackmon and Bonita Blackmon, a proud grandparent of Grady and Jenese Williams and Cherry Chenell Blackmon and a proud great-grandparent of Bryson Stephan Blackmon. Mrs. Blackmon-Lowery is a lifelong worshipper of the African Methodist Episcopal church, and is a member of the Ward Chapel A.M.E. Church, Selma, Alabama, where she serves as Steward. Mrs. Blackmon-Lowery currently resides in Selma, AL and is a beloved member of the community.
Mrs. Lowery is a graduate of the College of Staten Island. She was previously employed as a Senior Case Manager at Cahaba Mental Health in Selma AL. Her affiliations include, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and Optimist Club of Selma, Order of Eastern Star, President of the Board of Selma Aids Information & Referral (AIR), Alabama Democratic Conference. She is the author of Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom “My story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March”– Lowery’s collaborative project with Elspeth Leacock & Susan Buckley. She has received many awards and honorees. Recently, she was honored as an iconic and historic woman at an intimate celebration at the Mansion of Mayor Mchael E. Duggan on March 19, 2024, where she received a key to the City of Detroit. She received the Theatre Arts & Humanitarian Award at the 2024 International Black Theatre Festival (IBTF) on July 29, 2024; as her book is made available as a musical play. She is selected as one of the 25 honorees of the This is Alabama2025 Women Who Shape the State and will be honored at the Awards Luncheon on Thursday March 6th, 2025, at The Club in Birmingham, Alabama. She will receive an honorary Doctorate Degree from Carolina Christian College on May 3, 2025.
Lowery has been a witness and participant in some of our nation’s most consequential civil rights battles. She began her civil rights activism in the early 60s. The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) activists organized Lowery and other area children and teenagers to participate in the civil rights movement. In the front lines of the struggle, the young Lowery marched on "Bloody Sunday" and "Turn Around Tuesday," and is the youngest marcher to walk every step of the successful March from Selma to Montgomery. Lowery was beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965, that day is now by a more descriptive name, Bloody Sunday. She received a total of 35 stitches for her injuries. Mrs. Lowery’s early involvement in the struggle against “Jim Crow”, American apartheid, has been the foundation for her civil and human rights work throughout her life. Blackmon-Lowery is a much sought after speaker with a compelling personal story of civil rights activism. Mrs. Lowery has presented at conferences, schools, colleges, and workshops across the country.
The mission of the Centerville-Washington Diversity Council is to celebrate and promote an
inclusive, diverse, and welcoming community for people who live, work, and worship in
Centerville and Washington Township.
Information about the council is available at www.cwtdiversity.org and on Facebook and
Instagram or by contacting Jason Riley, Council Chair, at cwdcchair@gmail.com.
If you miss this year's event, no worries! Thanks to the Miami Valley Communications Council, you can watch it later on Cable Channel 5. We'll post a link when it is available.
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