2016 50th memorial calendar of events (below)
Key Dates:
JANUARY
Saturday, January 2, 2016 - Macon County Movement Teach-In at 1st Tuskegee United Methodist Church, South Main Street, Tuskegee, AL
Discussions and story telling from the Foot Soldiers of the Tuskegee Institute students from the 1960's. Lunch will be served.
Sunday, January 3, 2016 - Sammy Younge, Jr. murdered at Tuskegee Greyhound Bus Station, by Marvin Segrest.
Sammy Younge, Jr. Memorial Service 4:00 p.m.
Will take place in the 1st Tuskegee United Methodist Church, South Main Street, Tuskegee, AL (speaker: Minister Wendell Paris)
Immediately following will be a Movement Discussion Forum, to be streamed on the Web, for those that could not physically be there.
FEBRUARY
February 2016 - Macon County Schools SLY16 Tour
Featuring speakers from TIAL, SNCC, UNITY and TICEP, with music, skits, singing, audio/visual and more!
February 2016 - Tuskegee University Student Movement Discussion
Featuring speakers from TIAL, SNCC, TISEP and the Southern Courier Newspaper.
MARCH
March 2016 - Brownsville Memorial Service, in the Tuskegee Brownsville Community. Date TBA.
March 2016 - "Human Life Matters: a Discussion on Sammy Younge Jr and TIAL" at the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Commemoration. Date TBA.
APRIL
April 2016 - Africa Feastival, at the Elmwood Community (formerly all white public housing community), with Voter Registration and Free Curbside Food Distribution. Date TBA.
April 2016 - TU Political Science SLY Discussion - Conversation with Tuskegee University Political Science students on the implications of Sammy Younge, Jr., TIAL, SNCC and UNITY, in the 1960's Macon County, Alabama.
MAY
May 2016 - Graduation Activities (at Sammy Younge's schools Saint Joseph Catholic School and Tuskegee Institute Middle School, and the school Sammy and TIAL helped to integrate, Tuskegee Public Elementary School. Included will also be BTW High School). Dates according to 2016 graduation schedule.
JUNE
June 2016 - SLY16 SPLASH PARTY (celebrating the integration of the Tuskegee City Pool) at Henderson Park Pool. Includes: music, free swimming, food, Voter Registration, Battle of the Celebrity D.J.'s and more.
JULY
July 2016 - 1st Tuskegee Presbyterian Church Memorial Service - (TIAL and SNCC attempted to integrate during the summer of 1965. The front door was subsequently barracaded for the next 30 years) Service will be held at Global Friends Ministries, Dr. Ludie Hoffman, Pastor (original site of 1st Presbyterian Church), 258 North Main Street, Tuskegee, AL 36083. Date TBA.
AUGUST
August 2016 - White Street Baptist Church Voter Registration Commemoration Service - (TIAL came at request to assist with Lee County Voter Registration. They stayed at the church and were jailed in Opelika) to take place at White Street Baptist Church, Auburn, AL. Date TBA.
SEPTEMBER
September 2016 - SLY16 Basketball Tournament at Tuskegee Institute Middle School (in commemoration of Sammy and friends night games at Tuskegee Institute High School)
September 2016 - TU Younge Hall Discussion - Conversation with Tuskegee University Younge Hall dormitory students, on Sammy Younge, Jr., TIAL, TICEP, SNCC and UNITY. Presentation of Historic Plaque and Voter Registration. Date TBA.
OCTOBER
October 2016 - Little Texas Community Day - (Commemoration of Sammy Younge's work in Little Texas, with TIAL and SNCC) Voter Registration and History Discussions/Presentations. Date TBA.
NOVEMBER
Thursday, November 17, 2016 - Sammy Younge, Jr.'s birthday with College Student March to Bus Station and Tuskegee City Square Celebration.
November 2016 - Sheriff Lucius Amerson Commemoration - History discussions concerning the campaign and subsequent election of the first Black Sheriff in the U.S. South since Reconstruction, as a direct result of the assassination of Sammy L. Younge, Jr. Date and location TBA.
November 2016 - T.I.S.E.P. Reunion
DECEMBER
December 2016 - Black Panther Party Event - Lowndes County Freedom Organization and Black Panther Party Memorial Service Event, to remember the work of SNCC, TIAL and others in Lowndes County, AL, including the history of Tent City. Date and location TBA.
December 2016 - Segrest Trial Remembered - Discussion and explanation of issues surrounding the trial of Sammy Younge's murderer, Marvin Segrest and it's repercussions. Including reenactment of the painting of the Tuskegee Confederate Statue. Date and location TBA.
Other Activities Planned:
- Sammy Younge, Jr. Voter Registration Drive
- Sammy Younge, Jr. Book Reading for High School Juniors and Seniors
- Sammy Younge, Jr. Book available free in digital form
- Sammy Younge, Jr. Art Exposition, with written, graphic, performing and more artistic expressions.
- Sammy Younge, Jr. Global Discussion with web-access for Tuskegee Civil Rights veterans to share experiences.
- Macon Co. Black Liberation Movement Oral Histories, available on the web.
- Sammy Younge, Jr. Story Video - Available Soon on YouTube.