A highlight of SPOHP’s annual Mississippi Freedom Project research trip this year was the opportunity for staff member Anupa Kotipoyina to interview Edward Duvall, a pastor who has been working with the local community to finally desegregate all schools in Cleveland, Mississippi. Despite a 1969 desegregation order, the Cleveland School District continues, more than forty years later, in a legal battle with the U.S. Department of Justice, recently appealing a May 2016 order to consolidate segregated middle and high schools. In this podcast, Duvall describes the role he and other community members have played in the stand against this issue, as well as the challenges of working within the legal and school systems to have their voices heard.

The post SPOHP Special Feature: The Ongoing Fight for Equal Education in Cleveland, Mississippi appeared first on Samuel Proctor Oral History Program.