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2007 - 2008 Releases
Hastings College to recognize Black History Month, Selma, Alabama mayor to speak
James Perkins, Jr., first black mayor of Selma, Ala., will speak Thursday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m., in French Memorial Chapel. The presentation, one of several Black History Month events sponsored by the college’s Multicultural Student Union, is free and open to the public. Matt Rossen, mayor of Hastings, will also be at the lecture.
Perkins made history in 2000 when he was elected mayor in a run-off election, defeating long-time Selma mayor Joe Smitherman. The race was Perkins’ third attempt, and his victory marked a turning point in the city’s long history of racism.
Perkins’ first years as mayor were marked with difficulty. During a Martin Luther King Day celebration, marchers tried to take down a statue that honored a Confederate soldier who was also a founder of the Ku Klux Klan. Perkins was removed from the city water board, and also lost the power to veto the City Council.
Re-elected in 2004, Perkins continues to work to improve relations between Selma’s black and white residents, and to bring needed jobs to the area.
A Selma native, Perkins was 10 when African American residents attempted to march to the capitol in Montgomery in 1965. The people were marching for equal rights, including the right to vote. The event brought international attention to the community when the group was stopped at the Edmund Pettus Bridge by Selma police, Alabama state troopers, and other deputized individuals. Authorities assaulted the group of marching people, including children, and the incident came to be known as “Bloody Sunday.” This was a major catalyst that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Perkins was in the first group of black students who attended the newly formed Selma High School. He continued his education at Alabama A&M, Huntsville, a historically black college, and was hired by Caterpillar Tractor Company as a computer programmer and systems analyst.
In 1980, Perkins opened his own computer consulting firm, Business Ventures, Inc.
For more information regarding Perkins, contact Lou Pratters, Hastings College adjunct instructor of teacher education, at (402) 461-7747.
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Hastings College to recognize Black History Month, Selma, Alabama mayor to speak
James Perkins, Jr., first black mayor of Selma, Ala., will speak Thursday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m., in French Memorial Chapel. The presentation, one of several Black History Month events sponsored by the college’s Multicultural Student Union, is free and open to the public. Matt Rossen, mayor of Hastings, will also be at the lecture.
Perkins made history in 2000 when he was elected mayor in a run-off election, defeating long-time Selma mayor Joe Smitherman. The race was Perkins’ third attempt, and his victory marked a turning point in the city’s long history of racism.
Perkins’ first years as mayor were marked with difficulty. During a Martin Luther King Day celebration, marchers tried to take down a statue that honored a Confederate soldier who was also a founder of the Ku Klux Klan. Perkins was removed from the city water board, and also lost the power to veto the City Council.
Re-elected in 2004, Perkins continues to work to improve relations between Selma’s black and white residents, and to bring needed jobs to the area.
A Selma native, Perkins was 10 when African American residents attempted to march to the capitol in Montgomery in 1965. The people were marching for equal rights, including the right to vote. The event brought international attention to the community when the group was stopped at the Edmund Pettus Bridge by Selma police, Alabama state troopers, and other deputized individuals. Authorities assaulted the group of marching people, including children, and the incident came to be known as “Bloody Sunday.” This was a major catalyst that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Perkins was in the first group of black students who attended the newly formed Selma High School. He continued his education at Alabama A&M, Huntsville, a historically black college, and was hired by Caterpillar Tractor Company as a computer programmer and systems analyst.
In 1980, Perkins opened his own computer consulting firm, Business Ventures, Inc.
For more information regarding Perkins, contact Lou Pratters, Hastings College adjunct instructor of teacher education, at (402) 461-7747.
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