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Carlie J Pierre
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How do communities today build power, confront injustice, and create lasting change? And what can we learn from those who came before us?
The 1955–56 Montgomery Bus Boycott is an example of what people can accomplish together. Led by Black residents of Montgomery and a young Martin Luther King Jr., the boycott demonstrated how shared purpose, disciplined nonviolence, and community solidarity could challenge injustice, change laws, and help spark the American Civil Rights Movement.
This spring, the Center for Teaching Innovation and Inclusive Excellence's Center for Equity, Education, and Belonging (CEEB) invite the campus community to explore the 70th anniversary of the boycott as a living example of collective courage and nonviolent resistance. Together, we’ll reflect on the boycott’s lessons and consider what it might mean to practice nonviolence and confront injustice in our own communities today.
Our series includes a screening of Eyes on the Prize, a multi‑week Learning, Reflection, and Action Community, and a concluding community and campus conversation on civil resistance and the boycott’s enduring impact.
Eyes on the Prize Viewing Party
Wednesday, February 4 | 5-6:30 pm | MLK Jr. Room
Join us as we kick off Black History Month 2026 by commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott with a community viewing of Eyes on the Prize, Episode 1, the iconic documentary series on the Civil Rights Movement.
This episode helps us understand this historic boycott, and the students, workers, and community members who came together to challenge injustice and ignite a movement that transformed the nation. The evening will include a screening of the episode followed by a facilitated reflection. We’ll discuss the courage, organizing, and resilience that defined the boycott and the lessons that still resonate today.
This event is open to all students, faculty, staff, and guests.
Learning, Reflection, and Action Group
February 24, March 3, March 24, and March 31, 2:30-4 pm via Zoom
Facilitators: Abby Machson-Carter (Center for Teaching Innovation), Carlie Pierre (Inclusive Excellence), and Margo Shea (History)
This Learning, Reflection, and Action Group invites participants to explore the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Each week, we’ll read memoirs or watch interviews from boycott participants and use them to spark discussion. We’ll explore how communities recognize the need for change, what motivates people to act together, and how nonviolence empowers us to action grounded in courage and love. Together, we’ll connect the strategies of the boycott to the challenges and opportunities we face in our own communities and explore what it could look like to practice nonviolence to confront injustice today.
This group is a space for honest conversation and collective learning, welcoming people of all levels of experience. Whether you’re new to conversations about justice or deeply engaged in advocacy work, you are welcome. We ask participants to attend at least three of the meetings so we can build a meaningful shared experience together.
REGISTER
Community Conversation: Civil Resistance and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Save the date for our final event, a community activist panel and discussion Thursday, April 9.
As a capstone to our spring programming on the 70th anniversary, in this conversation we’ll hear from a panel of local community activists and leaders about the organizing and advocacy they are doing in their community, the legacy of the bus boycott, and the kinds of action that is needed today.