Next week — on March 31 and April 1 — Houston’s Rothko Chapel will host a virtual symposium titled Beyond the Rhetoric: Civil Rights & Our Shared Responsibility. Over seven sessions, all of which will be available to attendees via livestream, scholars, reporters, advocates, activists, and others will discuss and examine, according to the organization, “the future of civil and human rights in the United States.”
Civil rights and social justice have long been tenants of the Chapel’s mission since it was founded by Dominique and John de Menil in 1971. As such, upon the space’s opening, Broken Obelisk, Barnett Newman’s sculpture that sits in the Chapel’s reflecting pool, was dedicated to The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Rothko Chapel, with “Broken Obelisk” in the foreground
See a selection of the programming that will be available on March 31 and April 1 below. For a full schedule, and to register for the symposium, please go here.
Thursday, March 31
Panel Discussion | Freedom of Speech & Expression in Journalism, Education & the Arts
Featuring: Moderator Michael Powell, reporter, New York Times; Joe Cohn, Legislative & Policy Director, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE); Svetlana Mintcheva, National Coalition Against Censorship
Where are we heading? The Future of Civil Rights in the US
Featuring: Michelle Alexander, writer, civil rights advocate, visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary; Moderator Larry Payne, President, The Educational Excellence Resource Group LLC; Additional panelists to be announced
Friday, April 1
Panel Discussion | A Threat to All: Redistricting, Gerrymandering & the Attack on Voting Rights
Featuring: Moderator Mimi Marziani, President, Texas Civil Rights Project; Chris Hollins, Lawyer & former County Clerk of Harris County, Texas; Additional panelists to be announced.
Panel Discussion | Movement Building & Organizing for Change
Featuring: Marshall Ganz, Lecturer in Leadership, Organizing and Civil Society, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; Additional panelists to be announced.
