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Maria Gitin & Associates Focus on Current Issues
In the summer of 1965, I was a student civil rights worker in rural Alabama. Because I came from a low-income family, I raised funds for my journey from friends and faith groups. In appreciation, I wrote long detailed letters about meeting both famous and ought to be famous civil rights leaders, black southern poverty, racism, violence and my own arrest. Originally, the book was a memoir based on a handful of 45 year-old letters from the perspective of a naive 19-year old, remembered incidents, a SNCC civil rights worker reunion, and my first return to Wilcox County, Alabama in 2008.
For twenty-seven years we have served the philanthropic community through major projects, capital campaigns, strategic planning, board development and fundraising training and coaching. At this time, we are focusing on the areas of greatest interest to our communities: building capacity within organizations through leadership development. Tailored training, confidential coaching and energizing, productive retreats and are the primary vehicles for delivering our services. We will continue to take on focused strategic plan and board development projects that emphasize leadership and fund development. As always, our commitment to cultural diversity is woven into the fabric of all our work. Introduction to Forthcoming Publication and Availability for Reading 1965 THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE, THIS BRIGHT LIGHT OF OURS: a memoir and oral histories of the Wilcox County Voting Rights Movement by Maria Gitin After visiting and speaking with dozens of people, I realized that it was essential to include the stories of the activists I knew and loved that summer. I began to search for and interview people I knew or were related to those I knew in Wilcox County in 1965. Questions included: Who had they become? Did they remember white civil rights workers? Were we a help or hindrance? What still needs to be done to achieve true racial equality? And most important to me, what difference did The Movement make in their lives? Two years and two return visits later my manuscript developed from a memoir into multiple stories from some of the finest and bravest people I have ever known. The book is both a coming of age story of an idealistic teenage girl and an intimate portrait of grassroots civil rights activists in a county best known for its Gees Bend quilters. Blog about Maria Gitin's civil rights experience and read from her forthcoming memoir. This Little Light 1965 Blog Maria Gitin is available to read from and to discuss her memoir. Contact: |
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