Please join us for Alvernia's Fall 2024 first-year seminar signature event on Monday, September 30, at 2:30 p.m. All are welcome!
We are proud to bring Gretchen Sorin, the author of "Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights," to Alvernia’s campus to speak about her book. To go along with the book, this year's SEARCH theme is "Voices of Justice: Navigating the Civil Rights Movement, Past, Present, and Future."
Here is the summary from the publisher:
“Driving While Black demonstrates that the car — the ultimate symbol of independence and possibility — has always held particular importance for African Americans, allowing black families to evade the dangers presented by an entrenched racist society and to enjoy, in some measure, the freedom of the open road. Melding new archival research with her family’s story, Gretchen Sorin recovers a lost history, demonstrating how, when combined with black travel guides — including the famous Green Book — the automobile encouraged a new way of resisting oppression.”
Sorin’s book is also the basis of a major PBS documentary by Gretchen Sorin and Ric Burns of the same title.
We are excited to be able to provide students, faculty, staff, and community members with this excellent opportunity! This year’s theme will explore what is ours to do in promoting equality, justice, and protection for all individuals, as well as fostering a society built on fundamental human dignity and fairness. Dr. Sorin’s book is full of stories of “people power,” civil resistance, and positive human forces that changed American society.
The event will occur on Alvernia’s Hilltop Campus in the Flynn Center for Recreation, Wellness & Health Science (the PLEX). Dr. Sorin will speak at 2:30 p.m. She will also sign books after the event until 4:30 p.m. Bring your copy to get it signed. Parking will be available at the PLEX and surrounding campus buildings.
Faculty are encouraged to build this event into their syllabus and bring their classes that take place during the event. All first-year students are required to attend and will be excused from classes and other activities to join the event with their SEARCH course.
