Ida B Wells Social Justice Program
July 12th-15th: Ida B. Wells-Barnett Social Justice Weekend
Celebrating the LIFE, Legacy and Times of one of the first Drum Majors for Civil Rights and Social Justice Locally, Nationally and Internationally.
- This event provides participants with a powerful tool and networks for social change. It also provides a heightened motivation to work toward a peaceful, more equitable and sustainable community at the local, state, regional, national, and international levels. The Ida B. Wells-Barnett Weekend will also provide an annual venue for highlighting and discussing the life achievements of Ida B. Wells-Barnett beyond her birthday celebration. This event is open to everyone.
- Hosted by the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum, the City of Holly Springs, and Rust College.
July 15th: Annual Birthday Celebration / Arts and Craft Family Festival
Hosted by the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum, the City of Holly Springs, and Rust College
“Preserving, Promoting, and Protecting the Legacy of Ida B. Wells-Barnett: African history and culture”
- This celebration is the major highlight of the Social Justice Weekend. It is a day-long celebration with food and refreshments, performances, art exhibits, fun for children and youth, as well as a birthday Gala with guest speaker Sarah Summerville, Esq.
Sarah Summerville, Esq.
Sarah Falkner Summerville is a graduate of Henry High School in Byhalia, Mississippi and Mississippi Industrial College in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She received her Juris Doctorate Degree from Miles College, School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama.
Sarah’s initial career choice was pursued in the field of journalism. She worked as a television reporter and anchor at WCBI-TV in Columbus Mississippi and WBRC-TV in Birmingham, Alabama; and as a reporter for the Birmingham Post-Herald Newspaper. However, Sarah’s passion and interest in civic activism directed her career to the field of law and she enrolled in Law School.
Upon completion of law school, she went to work for the Teachers Union in Birmingham, which afforded her an opportunity to be a part of the political scene in Alabama. While attending a political function she met, then Arkansas Governor, William Jefferson Clinton, who was a candidate for the democratic nomination for President of the United States. Sarah immediately saw something special about him as he delivered his speech. Even though he was very low in the polls, Sarah decided she wanted to work for his campaign and submitted her resume to the Bill Clinton for President Campaign. Sarah was selected to be the Bill Clinton’s Campaign Manager for the State of Alabama.
In November 1992 after Governor Clinton was elected President of the United States, Sarah was requested to travel to Washington, D.C. to work on the transition team. In January 1993, she accepted a political appointment with the Clinton/Gore Administration where she served as a Senior Executive in the White House, the Pentagon, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Education. Sarah served in the Clinton/Gore Administration for both terms, 1992-2000.
Sarah is currently admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and in the State of Alabama. She specializes in Employment and Labor Law. She is currently employed as the Civil Rights Director at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (a Wall Street financial regulator) in Washington, DC.
Sarah is divorced and has one son, Roderick. She currently resides in the Washington DC suburb of Arlington, Virginia.