Spelman’s Choice: An interview with Dr. Cynthia Neal Spence and Dr. Marilyn Davis

An Oral History Project Conducted by John Robert Lewis Scholar Joyce Onana Mfege

Project Description

Following the visit to Harris’s house in Montgomery, Alabama, as part of the Congressional Pilgrimage’s 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, a question emerged about what it means for Black students to learn the principles of nonviolence. Attending an HBCU is a choice some students make, often connected to the school’s history of social justice and advocacy. In candid interviews with Spelman College professors and social justice leaders, Dr. Marilyn Davis and Dr. Cynthia Neal Spence, a journey unfolded, exploring the calling of HBCUs to recreate spaces of nonviolent activism, continuing our elders’ methods as we raise the next generation of activists.