Examine the curious connections between America and Northern Ireland’s Civil Rights Movements with “Good Trouble: The Selma, Alabama and Derry, Northern Ireland Connection 1963-1972.” Admission is free for this Salem Museum speaker series talk on Thursday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Salem Museum. The event will be livestreamed on Zoom for those unable to attend in person through a link on SalemMuseum.org.
In his talk, educator and author Dr. Forest Issac Jones will show the strong connection between the Black Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the Catholic Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland. Specifically, Dr. Jones will illustrate the influence of the 1965 Montgomery to Selma marches on the 1969 Belfast to Derry march through oral history, based on numerous interviews of events leading up to both marches and afterwards. Building off of unprecedented access and interviews with participants in both movements, Dr. Jones’ lecture will be a gripping and moving account of these pivotal years for both countries. At the conclusion of his lecture, Dr. Jones’ new book on the subject will be available for purchase and/or signing. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to the Salem Museum.
Dr. Jones is an author of nonfiction, history, and essays. He specializes in the study of Irish History, the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, and Northern Ireland. He resides in Salem and is an adjunct professor at Hollins University. The subject of his talk and most recent book is close to the author’s heart, as both of his parents marched to integrate lunch counters and movie theaters in Salisbury, North Carolina in 1963 as college students. His mother was present at the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.
-The Salem Times-Register
Picture Caption: Jones
Courtesy photo




