More Photos
Out and About
James H. Meredith Speaks on Minority Rights in A Multi-Ethnic Society
Civil Rights Advocate Shares His Experience to Montenegrins
October 12, 2007
James H. Meredith, U.S. writer and one of the most prominent people in U.S. civil rights history, spent a week in Montenegro conducting a series of lectures and discussions about minority rights in a multiethnic society. He met with students, professors, NGO representatives, and civil servants. Mr. Meredith spoke about the protection of civil rights in the United States and other countries, including legislation, implementing mechanisms, and the historical context to local audiences in Podgorica, Bijelo Polje and Ulcinj.
In 1962, James H. Meredith became the first African-American student to ever attend the University of Mississippi. This event is a pivotal point in the civil rights movement in the U.S. President John Kennedy sent 33,000 federal troops to escort Meredith because local authorities were blocking him physically coming on campus. The riots which ensued left two people dead. In 1966 Mr. Meredith himself was shot while conducting his solo 220-mile March against Fear from Memphis Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi.