LEWISTON — The USM LAC Druker Office of Community Engagement recently hosted an interactive workshop about civil rights with Edward Little High School and USM Lewiston-Auburn College students.

Titled, “Bringing it Home: Civil Rights Struggles from Birmingham to Maine,” the workshop was funded through a USM Diversity Mini Grant and highlighted the similarities and differences between civil rights struggles in Lewiston-Auburn, the United States, and globally 50 years ago and presently.

The workshop convened at USM LAC and brought together approximately 50 Edward Little High School students and 25 USM LAC students, along with staff from both schools to build community among students and explore the ethics and history behind civil rights movements.

The event reflected hours of planning and preparation by EL student leaders Dante Baskett, Cole Butler, Clayton Carver, Sydnee Harris, Salma Mohammed and Ayuub Sharlot, working with USM LAC students Tonya Bailey-Curry and Thomas Farrington.

The students worked collaboratively with the facilitation of Nicole Manganelli of the Unity Project, EL Vice Principal Leslie Morrill, and USM LAC Associate Professor Michelle Vazquez Jacobus to plan the content and the activities of the event.

The highly-interactive day included study of civil rights history, interactive activities, small and large group discussions, a multicultural panel and an action planning session, all of which included high school, college students, USM and Edward Little faculty, and several community members.

The Martin Luther King Jr. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (which was written 50 years ago) was used as a touchstone for advance study and to launch discussions about the perpetuity and commonality of civil rights struggles.

Reading and discussion of the letter were followed by a multicultural panel consisting of Rita Dube, the former director of the Franco American Heritage Center; Tonya Bailey-Curry, a USM student leader; Sadik Lag, a USM LAC graduate and community leader; and Sydnee Harris, an EL student leader.