Pasadena Black History Month Magazine - February 2023 | Pages 39 & 40
A CONVERSATION ABOUT RESISTANCE WITH ANGELINE BUTLER
Attend "Lift Every Voice: An Evening with Angeline Butler, a Powerful Voice of the Civil Rights Movement" at Hastings Branch Library on Feb. 16 at 6 p.m.
Angeline Butler's career as a singer and actress spans many decades and over seven countries. Her talents have taken her through a very successful career in television, theater, and the music industry.
What is not known by many is that aside from being a performing artist, Butler is also an icon of the Civil Rights Movement.
A student organizer back in the 1960s, Butler was 17 years old when she was arrested for sitting at the lunch counter at McLellan's five-and-ten-cent store in Nashville, Tennessee as part of a protest to end racial segregation at lunch counters.
Butler, who currently teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, was a student advisor to the Late Martin Luther King, Jr. and an organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for jobs and freedom. The movement, joined by over 250,000 people, was one of the most significant protests in American history.
Speaking to Pasadena Now, the activist shared her reflections of the strategy and accomplishments of the Student Nonviolent Movement of the 1960's.
"HER TALENTS HAVE TAKEN HER THROUGH A VERY SUCCESSFUL CAREER IN TELEVISION, THEATER, AND THE MUSIC INDUSTRY.