Civil Rights Leader John Lewis to Keynote Pulitzer Centennial Event Hosted by Poynter Institute
Lewis' appearance part of two-day program, "Voices of Social Justice and Equality," March 31-April 1
Lewis' appearance part of two-day program, "Voices of Social Justice and Equality," March 31-April 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Nov. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, a legendary Civil Rights leader and an organizer of the Selma Bridge March in 1965, will keynote the Pulitzer Prize centennial on "The Voices of Social Justice and Equality," hosted by The Poynter Institute on March 31, 2016.
As a leader in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Lewis served as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), coordinated voter registration programs and played a key role in organizing sit-ins and demonstrations. Lewis was among the marchers who were attacked crossing Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge in the confrontation with Alabama state troopers that became known as "Bloody Sunday."
"John Lewis is the perfect keynoter for an event that celebrates not only a courageous history but also the abiding need for insightful journalism about civil rights and social justice," said Mike Pride, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes at Columbia University.
"The Voices of Social Justice and Equality" is the first of four signature events commissioned by the Pulitzer Prizes in honor of its Centennial. The two-day Poynter event, March 31-April 1, 2016, will highlight the achievements of journalists and others who produced Pulitzer Prize-winning work in the service of civil rights, social equality and democracy.
Lewis will deliver the keynote address at the main Poynter event on Thursday, March 31, at the Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg. Florida. Through photography, fine arts, live music and dance performances, the work of Civil Rights-era Pulitzer Prize winners will be showcased.
The following day, Friday, April 1, 2016, Poynter teachers and invited experts will lead a series of workshops designed to enlighten and inspire the next generation of Pulitzer winners. About 20 former Pulitzer Prize winners will be joining the two-day program.
About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a global leader in journalism education and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media and 21st century public discourse. Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., and at conferences and organizational sites around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, www.newsu.org, offers the world's largest online journalism curriculum in 7 languages, with more than 400 interactive courses and 330,000 registered users in more than 200 countries. The Institute's website, www.poynter.org, produces 24-hour coverage of news about media, ethics, technology, the business of news and the trends that currently define and redefine journalism news reporting. The world's top journalists and media innovators come to Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians and broadcast producers, and to build public awareness about journalism, media, the First Amendment and protected discourse that serves democracy and the public good.
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SOURCE The Poynter Institute
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