Robert Bland Homegrown Heroes Full Interview
Item
Title
Robert Bland Homegrown Heroes Full Interview
Identifier
2024.017.021
Type
Moving Image
Description
This interview with Robert Bland was conducted on November 8, 2023. In this interview, Bland discusses his early life growing up in segregated Virgina and his experiences as one of the first African American undergraduates at the University of Virgina in the 1950s and eventually moving to California in the 1960s. Bland describes his community activism in Riverside as one in which he was an active member for the local NAACP chapter, where he served as the education chair and collaborated with other local organizers to create Freedom Schools as an alternative to the public school system during a boycott. Towards the end of the interview, Bland discusses his current involvement in issues of public safety and criminal justice reform and expresses hope that the next generation will continue the fight for equality and justice that he and his community have championed.
Subject
Community activism
Racism
Racial/ ethnic segregation
Civil Rights Activism
Spatial Coverage
Petersburg, Virginia
Riverside (Calif.)
Temporal Coverage
1950s - 2024
Creator
Scherly Virgill
Date
11/8/2023
Contributor
Robert Bland
Format
.mov
Language
English
Rights
