Fulbright Canada 30th Anniversary Speaker Series
Turn Me Loose:
The Heroic Life of Medgar Wiley Evers
Andrew Cohen, author, journalist and Professor at Carleton University
Medgar Wiley Evers was the face of the freedom struggle in Mississippi as it began to emerge in the mid-1950s. In the most segregated state in the Union, he investigated the murder of Emmett Till, integrated the University of Mississippi, led sit-ins, marches and boycotts, and registered voters. He worked alone, without a congregation or an entourage, in a mounting climate of terror. Facing daily death threats, he understood the danger but refused to join the Great Migration. His murder on June 12, 1963, on the doorstep of his house in Jackson, opened a season of assassination in the United States extending almost a decade.
Today, Evers is the great, unsung hero of the movement, in the company of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and John Lewis. In the issues, he faced a half-century ago—extending voting rights, fighting economic injustice, and challenging police brutality—Medgar Evers speaks to us today with new urgency.
Andrew Cohen, a best-selling author and award-winning journalist, discusses the earthly life and afterlife of Medgar Evers, his place in the movement, and his relevance in the age of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. In a career of 44 years, Cohen has worked in Ottawa, Toronto, London, Berlin, and Washington. He has written for The Toronto Globe and Mail, Foreign Affairs, United Press International, Time, CNN.com, The Financial Times of London, The New York Times, and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette among other publications. He has written seven books on politics, history, biography, Arctic exploration and national character. His latest book is Two Days in June: John F. Kennedy’s 48 Hours That Made History.
A Q&A session will follow.
If you have any questions about the event, please contact Patrick Burke, Acting Director of Public Affairs, at (613) 688-5514 or pburke@fulbright.ca.