Duke Chronicle features DukeEngage program in Durham
Each Tuesday night, the 32 participants of DukeEngage in Durham gather in the Mary Lou Williams Center for a panel focusing on a different issue in Durham, designed to generate discussion and dialogue.
Alice Williamson, the Durham site coordinator, said the programs offer "a broader picture of what Duke is beyond Durham."
This past Tuesday was themed "The African American Experience in Durham," focusing in particular on Durham's rich history with the Civil Rights Movement.
The week's panel featured three unique historical figures: Ann Atwater, a community leader and activist, William Turner, associate professor of the practice of homiletics at the Divinity School and former Durham mayor Wense Grabarek, who served from 1963 to 1971.
The speakers-who were all involved in the Durham Civil Rights Movement-discussed the subject passionately, bringing varying perspectives to the floor.
More than 40 years have passed since the movement, and Atwater and Grabarek still disagreed about the exact proceedings of events.
"If the Mayor [Grabarek] and all of them had listened to us in the beginning, then none of this-the protests, everything-would have happened," Atwater said.