Featured photo: William A. Johnson Jr. (left) and Charles Winfrey (right)
Written by Tanya Terry
Charles Winfrey, executive director, Floyd J. McCree Theatre, will participate in a lecture Wednesday, May 24, discussing Mott Community College during the Civil Rights Era.
“I think it’s important that we know our history regarding the Civil Rights Era period, whether it’s Mott College or any other institution,” Winfrey said. “It just behooves us to know our history because that’s where we get our strength, and that’s where we get our resilience and perseverance from.”
Winfrey will speak along with William A. Johnson Jr., a former political science faculty member at Flint Community Junior College.
“I feel honored I was selected,” Winfrey said. “…I have some history to share.”
Winfrey has been involved on the ground level for many years, predating a lot of what he is doing now. During the Civil Rights Era, he was a member of Mott Community College’s Black Student Union, which was an advocacy group for Black students on campus.
“Across the country, students were taken to the streets; they were protesting; they were sitting in and doing everything they could possibly do to bring attention to the fact that most of the college’s across the country’s curriculum were not relevant to African Americans. We did not see ourselves in the curriculum, and we did not have a voice in the curriculum. So, protests were taking place across the country,, and Mott Community College was no exception. Of course, we as the Black Student Union petitioned the college to infuse more relevancy about our history and our culture into their curriculum.”
In Winfrey’s opinion, progress in the area of civil rights has been very minimal, even though there has been some movement.
“Systemic racism is still too prevalent throughout our institutions in this country. There’s still a lot of resistance to changing it.”
Winfrey stated Mott Community College has undergone a lot of changes for the better throughout its history and said he would like to see that progress continue.
“I’m proud to be part of whatever I can do to move the college forward.”
The Courier also talked to Johnson about the upcoming lecture. Johnson is also the CEO of the consulting firm Strategic Community Intervention, LLC., based in Rochester, New York.
Johnson also talked about how Mott played a significant role in the Civil Rights Era and the student protest that took place there. The protests took place in the immediate aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination on April 4, 1968, Johnson’s first year on the faculty.
“The students were very serious about their work,” said Johnson.
He said he actually kept a file, which he didn’t realize he had into he was in the process of getting papers organized to be archived.
“It a whole folder of the BSU, the Black Student Union’s, demands, the response of the faculty-and some of those details I had forgotten,” stated Johnson.
He said he thinks it’s important to go back and access exactly what happened during that period, and to determine if whatever gains were made during that time have produced lasting results. He also noted the protests lasted into the following school year.
“The students whose names got memorialized were the ones who were arrested and charged with trespassing, criminal mischief and obstruction of property.”
The president of the Black student union was Rudy Wheaton, who is now a practicing dentist. Johnson recalls Winfrey was also very central to the effort. Woodrow Stanley, who later became mayor of Flint, was also part of the movement, along with other students.
At the time, Mott was known as Flint Community Junior College (FCKC).
“One thing I talk about, that actually happened in 1970, but it’s in the same period,” my students and I ran a campaign for a city council who was trying to unseat an incumbent city council woman.”
The lecture takes place at 6 p.m., Wednesday, May 24, at the New McCree Theatre, 4601 Clio Rd. Flint. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
To explore MCC’s history, also visit 100.mcc.edu, or MCC100th on Facebook.
