As part of its commemoration of Black History Month, Davidson College invites the public to a podium discussion on Monday evening, February 18, with Larry Little, former head of the Black Panther Party chapter in Winston-Salem. The event will begin at 7 p.m. in the Brown Atrium of the Alvarez College Union. No tickets are required and there is no charge to attend.
The Black Panther Party’s Winston-Salem chapter, founded in 1969, was the first of its kind in the American South. Rooted in the city’s impoverished African-American neighborhoods, it gave a voice to dispossessed and suffering communities.
Under Little’s influence, the chapter implemented an effective community service program that included the nationally-noted J. Waddell People’s Free Ambulance Service. Criticized for its militancy and leftist rhetoric, the chapter also had to fight police violence and FBI infiltration. Little, now an Associate Professor of Political Science at Winston Salem State University, will be speaking on “African Americans and the Struggle Against Racism in Post-Nazi Germany and Nixon’s United States.”
Little will be joined by African-American WW II veteran Ross Walker who fought in Germany in 1945. Walker, now 88, was born and grew up in Charlotte and fought racism at home and abroad. Other African-American war veterans who were stationed in Germany will also be in attendance. The College and a representative of the German General Consulate will honor these men’s contributions and struggles.
The event will occur in conjunction with an exhibit of photographs and video titled “The Civil Rights Struggle, African American GIs and Germany.” The award-winning exhibit was created by the German Historical Institute, Washington, D.C., Vassar College, and the University of Heidelberg. It has toured throughout Europe and the United States and is on display in the Brown Atrium of the Alvarez College Union through March 1.
For information on the talk by Little or any Black History Month events, call 704-894-2284 or email thpegelowkaplan@davidson.edu.
