Feb 21

Feb 21 LCC to hold Black History Month events

Acclaimed North Carolina-based actor and playwright Mike Wiley will showcase ‘Dar He: The Story of Emmitt Till,’ which he created and starred in on Monday at Lenoir Community College. The school will hold another event Thursday chronicling the Adkin High School walkout of 1951. Submitted photo.

Lenoir Community College will have a pair of Black History Month events, starting with its “Standing For Justice: Adkin High Walkout” presentation Thursday at the school’s administration auditorium.

The event is open to the public from 10-10:45 a.m., and a special showing is set for Lenoir Early College High School students at 11 a.m. Students who attended Adkin High in 1951 and participated in the walkout will be in attendance for discussion.

“This is a way to introduce (local) history to some who never heard of the 1951 walkout,” event facilitator Dr. Rita Joyner said. “Students at the all-black high school structured it to protest inadequate facilities and the inequalities between Adkin and Grainger High School. There will be a 15-minute documentary shown, created by local filmmaker Holly Holder, and we’ll have a small Q&A.”

Holder is a North Lenoir graduate and a sophomore at Duke University.

On Monday, acclaimed North Carolina-based actor and playwright Mike Wiley will showcase “Dar He: The Story of Emmitt Till,” which he created and starred in. The event will be held in the auditorium at 11 a.m., and is a special ticketed event with slots filling fast.

“Most of us know about the Civil Rights movement, and the mother of it, Rosa Parks,” LCC Student Success Advisor Jamal McMillion said. “Very few knew about what happening to Emmitt Till inspiring Ms. Parks, and we are honored to have Mike Wiley come in and emphasize what was behind the Civil Rights movement, which granted me the opportunity to work at this college.

“We are paying homage to the price that was paid to desegregate American society and we’re honored to show the emphasis that yielded so much to American society.”

Photos will not be permitted during Monday’s event. For tickets, visit McMillion at the LCC Administration Building or contact him at 252-527-622, Ext. 343.