Campus Life | March 4th, 2025
John Lewis Social Justice Speaker Series Event Highlights
By: Kazon Allen
At the John Lewis Social Justice Speaker Series on Feb. 2 at B.L. Perry, FAMU professor Tiffany Packer led a slide presentation highlighting John Lewis’s legacy and other civil rights activists.
The event honored the late congressman and civil rights activist by bringing together students, faculty, and other people in the community on FAMU’s campus to discuss more about the ongoing fight for equality in America. Tiffany Packer, a professor in the History Department on campus, was presented as the guest speaker due to her deep knowledge of social movements and Lewis.
The program began with the host Lindsay Larose, a FAMU student, and former Miss Emerald, gave introductions and a outline of the program. After the introductions, she played a short 13-minute documentary about the 1964 Mississippi murders where three civil rights workers — James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner — were killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Following the video, Packer, took the stage. Packer paid tribute to John Lewis. She mentioned he dedicated his life to justice and many people can resonate with him.
“John Lewis is one of my faves, because when we talk about him, what we realize very quickly is that we are actually talking about ourselves, “Packer said. “We’re not just talking about the man; he has a way of holding up a mirror to say that actually we were talking about ourselves.”
Packer emphasized that the fight for justice goes beyond race, gender, or sexual orientation.
“You don’t have to be black to support black causes.,” she said. “You don’t have to be a woman to put forth women’s rights. If you are a person who believes in equality, then it is your life, period.”
Before Packer ended her time, she shared the story of two sisters, Patricia Stephens Due and Priscilla Stephens Kruize, FAMU alumni from the 1960s. The sisters were arrested during the civil rights movement for a sit-in at a “whites-only” lunch counter in Tallahassee, Florida. The sisters chose to serve a 49-day jail sentence and became notable for their actions.
Due became a leader in the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to fight segregation, Packer explained The purpose of Packer telling this was to inspire the students of FAMU that there were alumni who fought for equality and that they could also be a part of that legacy.
After Packer’s speech, the discussion shifted toward modern civil rights issues, with ACLU representative Abdelilah Skhir addressing voter rights challenges in Florida.
“Florida was the first state in the deep south last year to ever have a Voting Rights Act filed,” Skhir explained. “We saw a wave of anti-voter laws being passed, making it harder for people to vote, register, and have their vote count.”
Skhir detailed how recent legislation has intentionally created barriers to voting, particularly for marginalized groups.
“These laws disproportionately harm Black voters, Spanish-speaking voters, students, elderly voters, and those with disabilities,” Skhir said, emphasizing the need for the ACLU to continue advocacy and reform by informing the audience.
The final segment of the event was the open panel discussion led by five student panelists. All of the panelists are part of different charters and chapters including the FAMU Charter of Generation Action.
Many students did not only learn and honor Lewis’s legacy, but also learned to take an active role in fighting for equality.
Ri’niyah Cleckley, a third-year student who attended the event, shared her experience by saying, “I enjoyed the John Lewis event. The lady that spoke [Tiffany Packer] was very informative and I’m glad they brought ACLU to the event because I had never heard of them before that.”
