By Miriam Meza –
On this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we invite everyone to join the Aurora Public Library as we all reflect on history and inspire ourselves to continue to promote social justice. MLK Day featured speaker, Thomas Armstrong, will remind us of our potential and responsibility as individuals to promote social justice and serves as an inspirational voice in the modern fight against racism. It will be from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 21, at the Santori Public Library of Aurora, 101 S. River Street.
Armstrong was a Freedom Rider during the early 1960s civil rights movement. Armstrong was born in rural Mississippi and attended Tougaloo College, where he became involved in organizing active movements towards social justice. In addition, he was introduced to Medgar Evers, who played a vital role in his inspiration to serve in the movement of nonviolent activism that ultimately led to his arrest and exile.
Armstrong has returned to share his story in a memoir entitled Autobiography of a Freedom Rider: My Life as a Foot Soldier for Civil Rights, which was published in 2011. Since then, he has been featured at countless events nationally and in the Chicagoland area, including the African American Leadership Roundtable and Freedom Riders 50th Anniversary in Chicago. He was most recently the keynote speaker for the Aurora Kwanzaa Celebration at the Prisco Center. (See photo here.)
Attendees will enjoy a visual presentation alongside the story of a local man fighting for the same principles espoused by civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr.. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with their community around those principles and come together to honor the every-day heroes who dismantled the Jim Crow era discrimination. You can look forward to being empowered to live by the principles Armstrong fought for decades ago and continues to confront today.
When asked what she is most excited about, Krista Danis, events and program coordinator at Santori Library said, “For those who have not yet heard his inspirational story, and for those who have and recognize the profound impact of everyday heroes in the battle for civil rights, Thomas Armstrong is a reminder of the foot soldiers whose contributions to the movement cannot go unrecognized.”
Don’t miss this special event in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.! For more information visit our events calendar at aurora.libnet.info/events.