Slavery Remembrance Day
Speaker profile
In 2009 the Slavery Remembrance Day memorial lecture was given by the US civil rights activist Diane Nash.
Diane Nash grew up in Chicago, Illinois, where she had only heard of the segregation in the South. She enrolled at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee in the late 1950s, where for the first time she was denied rights she had always taken for granted. For example, in downtown Nashville African Americans could buy things at Woolworth's and other stores but were not allowed to eat at the lunch counter or get jobs in those same stores.
In 1960 her part in deliberate non-violent actions led to the Nashville sit-ins in response to the segregation taking place in the city's cafeterias. These marked an important shift in the Civil Rights movement; the organisation and mobilisation of students. Hundreds, both Black and White, participated in sit-ins throughout the city. Many of the students were arrested; some were also beaten. On 10 May 1960 Diane's confrontation with Mayor resulted in the desegregation of Nashville's lunch counters and began the desegregation of other public facilities.
Mobilised by this, in the same year she helped to found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and quit school to lead its direct action wing. In 1961 she led the Freedom Rides from Birmingham, Alabama, to Jackson, Mississippi. Later she contributed to the Right to Vote strategy and was an organiser for the 1963 campaign in Birmingham.
Originally fearful of jail, Diane was arrested dozens of times for her activities and was even sentenced to two years in prison for teaching nonviolent tactics to children. She was released on appeal though was arrested for her civil rights activities many times after.
She worked for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) with Martin Luther King Junior from 1961 to 1965 and in 1963 was appointed to a national committee by President John F Kennedy to help draft the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Diane still lives in Chicago, Illinois. After the 1960s she held several administrative positions in social service agencies and was a housing and real estate consultant. Currently she lectures at colleges and universities and continues to be an activist in civil rights and peace issues.
Diane's achievements have been recognised many times over the years;