We in the Triangle have a truly rare opportunity this Sunday, to hear and dialogue with Taylor Branch. He is a preeminent historian of the civil rights movement, probably best known for his trilogy “America in the King Years.” The first volume of this monumental and influential work, “Parting the Waters,” won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988.
Branch has ties to North Carolina, having studied at UNC-Chapel Hill as a Morehead Scholar. And he is a person of faith, active at Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church in Baltimore. A personal note: I discovered last week that he and my first cousin were high school classmates in Atlanta 50 years ago.
To learn more about Branch, visit his website. His presentation in Raleigh is being co-hosted by the two First Baptist Churches on Capitol Square, and there will be a time for discussion with Branch and members of both congregations, applying the lessons of history to our ongoing efforts to achieve racial justice.
The program is at First Baptist Church, 99 Salisbury Street, Raleigh, beginning at 5:00. It is free and open to the public.
