Social Activist Asa Gordon to Present 2019 Realizing the Dream Lecture
- February 25th, 2019
- in Realizing the Dream
By Diane Kennedy-Jackson
Publications Coordinator
Tuscaloosa, Alabama — Asa Gordon, founder and executive director of the Douglass Institute of Government, a Washington, D.C.-based educational think tank, the 2019 Realizing the Dream Lecturer, will present, “Realizing the Dream by Honoring the Voting Rights Legacy of the United States Colored Troops,” Tuesday, March 19, at 7 p.m., at the Embassy Suites, 2410 University Boulevard, Tuscaloosa.
In addition to his work with the Douglass Institute, Gordon serves as secretary-general of the Sons & Daughters of the United States Colored Troops (USCT). The organization is chartered by the African American Civil War Memorial Freedom Foundation to augment the Foundation’s mission to use the national monument, The Spirit of Freedom (https://www.nps.gov/afam/learn/historyculture/index.htm), to honor the historical legacy of those who served in the USCT during the American Civil War.
A retired NASA astrodynamicist, Gordon has been published in international scientific journals and referenced in Ivan Van Sertima’s Blacks in Science: Ancient and Modern. His research has been employed by private industry, both domestic and abroad, for tracking satellites in space, and he served two terms as president of the Goddard Engineers, Scientists and Technicians Association.
Gordon’s social activism spans from civil actions in regard to democratizing the Electoral College, to constitutional penalty for voter disenfranchisement, to the 14th Amendment right to vote provision, to addressing neo-Confederate culture in American politics. He is chair of the D.C. Statehood Green Party Electoral College Task Force.
In 2016, Gordon received the National Civil Rights Conference Civil Rights and Social Justice Award in recognition of his promotion of the post-Civil War voting rights legacy of the USCT.
This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be available to guests immediately following the lecture. For more information and to let us know that you plan to attend, please RSVP to community.affairs@ua.edu.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Realizing the Dream Committee exists to raise consciousness about injustice and promote human equality, peace, and social justice by creating educational and cultural opportunities for growth, empowerment, and social change so that every person may experience the bounty of life’s abundant possibilities. The committee is comprised of representatives from Shelton State Community College, Stillman College, The University of Alabama and the Tuscaloosa Southern Christian Leadership Conference.