A “Song Talk” by LEPOCO’s Special Guest, Roberta Meek
March 13, 2021 – 7 pm via ZOOM
***Links to more information about Roberta’s topic can be found at the bottom of this page.
******Listen to WDIY’s Marcie Lightwood interview with Roberta Meek – aired on/in honor of International Women’s Day – 03/08/2021: Honoring Women’s History Month with Roberta Meek | WDIY News Exclusive | WDIY
Roberta has sung with local choruses and performed as a jazz singer and at community events for decades. She has frequently been the music leader at LEPOCO’s Young People Making Peace Summer Day Camp. Her singing is beloved by campers and volunteers alike. She puts her songs in context, teaching about Civil Rights and activism.
Born into an activist family in Philadelphia, as a young girl, Roberta Meek had the unusual opportunity to meet Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because her father, Bill Meek, Sr., was one of the key organizers of King’s visits to the city. Roberta’s career path has weaved its way through the labor, civil rights and social justice battles in Allentown, her adopted community. She was a Chief Steward and later Executive Vice President of CWA Local 13500. She has done independent consulting work facilitating myriad programs that address racial justice, cultural pluralism and nonviolent problem solving. Most recently Roberta has taught and served as the Director of the Africana Studies Program at Muhlenberg College.
As an historian specializing in African American history, Roberta collaborated with Touchstone Theatre to produce and present “Another River Flows: The African American Experience in the Lehigh Valley,” in 2008. In 2016, she was Abuela Claudia in the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical, “In the Heights,” at Muhlenberg College.
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If you are looking for more information about broadening voting participation, ending voter suppression, and countering the massive misinformation around voter fraud assertions, here are some links to organizations active on the national level and on the Pennsylvania state level. There is also a link to one article about the For the People Act, HR 1, and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act.
Why Congress must pass HR 1 and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act – Roll Call
Fair Fight founded by Stacey Abrams www.fairfight.com
NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) www.naacp.org
Black Lives Matter www.blacklivesmatter.com
The Brennan Center for Justice www.brennancenter.org
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights
Common Cause www.commoncause.org
Fair Districts PA https://www.fairdistrictspa.com/
March on Harrisburg www.mohpa.org
Pennsylvania Stands Up www.pastandsup.org
PA Youth Vote PA Youth VOTE – Home | Facebook