VOICES FROM THE SIT-IN is the true story of a protest, told by those who lived it. Delta State University, in Cleveland, Mississippi, was segregated from 1925 to 1965. The school enrolled its first Black students in 1966. These first students struggled for recognition, for inclusion, and for fair treatment. By the Spring of 1969, as tensions rose, Delta State’s Black students organized a series of actions and protests. These actions culminated in the quickly-escalating events of Monday, March 10, 1969. In VOICES FROM THE SIT-IN, the forgotten history of this moment is revealed. We meet some of the original students involved and relive the tense experience of a significant moment in the Civil Rights movement, exploring history almost unknown to students today.
VOICES FROM THE SIT-IN features protesters Maggie Daily Crawford, Mary Carter, Talmadge Davis, and Muriel McCraney Lucas; 1969 student government association president James W. Powers; Delta State professors Georgene Clark and Dr. Charles Westmoreland; and current student Sykina Butts, who has been recording an oral history of the participants’ stories. Filmed by current Delta State students, this 27-minute documentary brings to life an important story through lived experiences recalled across five decades.
