Author Lynda Blackmon Lowery  will speak in the auditorium at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21.

Lowery co-authored a memoir, “Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom,” about her experience as the youngest participant in the historic 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

“It’s not every day we have an opportunity to learn first-hand from a civil rights hero from the 1960’s. Instead of just reading about civil rights events in textbooks, we are bringing in the primary source to learn what it was like for Ms. Blackmon Lowery to be the youngest marcher on the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Her story is part of our American heritage. All of us who value equity and justice owe her our gratitude,” Dr. Jason Ness said. “The purpose of Ms. Lowery’s visit is to share her incredible story of courage, faith, and persistence and to help us understand more the sacrifices made by individuals for equality and justice, especially young people during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.”

Director of Equity and ELL, Corrie Wallace,  said she hopes students and faculty will learn from Lowery’s story.

“Ms. Lowery is speaking to share her experiences as a part of living history,” she said. “Similar to when we have other speakers such as holocaust survivors share their perspective so that students are more aware and hopefully work to prevent history from repeating itself. I hope that this helps the Niles West community understand the importance of Friday’s Stand Against Racism as the culminating activity for this year’s 2015 Coming Together In Skokie & Niles Township: Voices of Race and the significance of social justice in education.”