Join us for a book talk on Stayed on Freedom: The Long History of Black Power Through One Family’s Journey, with author Dan Berger, Michael Simmons, and nia t. evans. Stayed on Freedom is a new history of Black Liberation, told through the intertwined story of two grassroots organizers, and bringing into focus two unheralded Black Power activists who dedicated their lives to the fight for freedom.
Zoharah Simmons and Michael Simmons fell in love while organizing tenants and workers in the South. Their commitment to each other and to social change took them on a decades-long journey that traversed first the country and then the world. In centering their lives, historian Dan Berger shows how Black Power united the local and the global across organizations and generations.
Based on hundreds of hours of interviews, Stayed On Freedom is a moving and intimate portrait of two people trying to make a life while working to make a better world. This event will be in-person and streamed on our YouTube. If attending in person, please be prepared to show proof of vaccination upon entry.
_____
Dan Berger is a historian, professor, and abolitionist. He curates the Washington Prison History Project and is the author of Stayed on Freedom: The Long History of Black Power Through One Family’s Journey.
Michael Simmons has been a domestic and international human rights activist for 60 years. Beginning as an organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and later as Director of European programs for the American Friends Service Committee, Michael’s work has taken him to Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
nia t. evans is a freelance writer and editor based in New York City. She writes about Black life, politics, and culture. Her writing has appeared in Teen Vogue, Hammer & Hope, Slate, The Hill, Education Post, Boston Review, and elsewhere.
