History Among Friends
Mar
29
7:00 PM19:00

History Among Friends

Join the Museum of Durham History, the Durham County Library, and the Pauli Murray Center as we welcome Rosita Stevens-Holsey. Ms. Stevens-Holsey, one of Pauli Murray’s nieces and PMC Board member, will share excerpts and insights from her book: Pauli Murray: The Life of a Pioneering Feminist and Civil Rights Activist.

Cost: Free; Registration Required. Register here.

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Jan
31
6:00 PM18:00

January 2024 Book Club

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Center will restart the monthly book club this January! This month, we'll meet on January 31st virtually at 6:00 PM with two co-facilitators, Torrianna Foster and Gabrielle Fields. Visit your local library or bookstore to grab a copy! Sign up below to receive the Zoom link.

Summary: As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learning to give our own gifts in return.

Gabrielle is a community builder and collaborative systems strategist who is passionate about food sovereignty, advancing symbiotic relationships, and loving people. She is currently the Executive Director at Franklinton Farms, an urban farm and education nonprofit located just west of downtown Columbus, Ohio where she puts that passion into practice. Gabrielle believes that accessible, abundant, and familiar food is a major part of community care and perseverance and is excited to learn and reflect with us!

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Nov
29
6:00 PM18:00

November Book Club: The Marrow Thieves

The Center is gearing up for November book club! This month, we'll meet virtually on November 29th at 6:00 PM to discuss Indigenous liberation movements. Visit your local library or bookstore to grab a copy! RSVP below to let us know you're coming!

November's book is:

The Marrow Thieves

by Cherie Dimaline

Summary: Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden — but what they don't know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves. 

CW: **This book contains gore, death, and graphic depictions of both medical and sexual violence. While it is a dystopian/apocalyptic read, this content may be too heavy for some readers. Please be gentle with yourself as you read. For a full list of content warnings and resources, visit: Book Trigger Warnings.

The Pauli Murray Center book club is a monthly meeting where activists, creatives, and book lovers come together to explore a book or set of selections. The selected books, essays, videos, or interviews highlight LGBTQ+ and Black/Indigenous/People of Color authors and span genres. Register to receive the Zoom links and updates about our in-person gatherings!

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Healing: The Service
Nov
19
11:00 AM11:00

Healing: The Service

Come celebrate Homecoming: A Pauli Murray Birthday Weekend!

Sunday closes us out with a Sunday Service in collaboration with NorthStar Church of the Arts. This non-traditional service honors Rev. Dr. Murray’s fearless pursuit of spiritual wholeness and embodiment - both as a priest and a person.

You are invited to join PMC, Mobile Homecoming, and Radical Healing as we create space and ritual to remind us that healing is a practice of community care and justice.

Bring your full self to the service and enjoy a gathering that was made with intention and inclusion in mind.

**This event is FREE to the public but donations to PMC and/or our collaborators are greatly appreciated!

  • 11AM - 1PM EDT

  • NorthStar Church of the Arts

    220 W Geer St.

    Durham, NC 27701

  • Parking: Check back soon!

    Accessibility: Check back soon!

**This event is FREE to the public but donations to PMC and/or our collaborators are greatly appreciated!

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Housewarming: The Party!
Nov
18
1:00 PM13:00

Housewarming: The Party!

Come celebrate Homecoming: A Pauli Murray Birthday Weekend!

Saturday continues with a housewarming-style birthday party!

You are invited to join PMC and Friends at the Community Family & Recreation Center at Lyon Park to enjoy cupcakes, small party favors, birthday activities, and a live DJ set. Bring the whole family!

Help us honor Rev. Dr. Murray's legacy of joy, community, and witness together. The Center is thrilled to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ with many of Rev. Dr. Murray’s friends!

  • 1PM - 5PM EDT

  • Community Family Life & Recreation Center at Lyon Park

    1309 Halley St.

    Durham, NC 27707

  • Parking: Lyon Park has both street parking and a parking lot.

    Accessibility: Lyon Park has stairs and accessible ramps.

**This event is FREE to the public but donations to PMC and/or our collaborators are greatly appreciated!

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Homecoming: The Altar
Nov
17
3:00 PM15:00

Homecoming: The Altar

Come celebrate Homecoming: A Pauli Murray Birthday Weekend!

Friday opens a weekend of honoring Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray and their fierce commitment to loving our human family during their 113th birthday year.

You are invited to join Whistle Stop Tours and Friends on PMC's front porch to build Pauli’s HeartShip altar and engage in ritual practices that offer guidance into radical release, transformation, and the imagining of our greatest freedoms.

Drop by the Center to leave an offering and we’ll warm you up with cider!

Pauli’s HeartShip was co-designed by Shambo Medina, King Sage, Amber Santibañez, Aya Shabu, and Taylor Mary Webber-Fields. 

  • Come by the Center anytime between 3PM - 5PM

  • The Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice

    906 Carroll Street

    Durham, NC 27703

  • Parking: Please park on the street where available. Avoid parking on the Center’s yard or other driveways.

    Accessibility: The site has a small hill that you have to go up and then back down if you wish to place offerings on the porch. Access to the porch requires several stairs.

**This event is FREE to the public but donations to PMC and/or our collaborators are greatly appreciated!

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Nov
11
10:00 AM10:00

Roots and Soul: Walking with Pauli Murray Public Tour

Roots and Soul: Walking with Pauli Murray is a 90-minute 1-square-mile tour around the historic West End Neighborhood of Durham. Tour goers will visit 6 stops and be inspired by Pauli Murray's legacy and the unique contributions of the Fitzgerald family to the educational, economic, and cultural fabric of Durham.

Aya Shabu and Conductors share emancipation strategies from the voices of a Black Civil War soldier, the Freedman Schools movement, and from unsung s/hero Pauli Murray - a relentless pioneer and activist of Black civil rights, women's rights, and LGBTQ rights.

For the safety and enjoyment of all participants on the tour, please be advised that the tour route includes two moderate hills (one ascending and one descending), limited public sidewalks, and uneven ground.

You can register for 1 of 3 public dates here: https://bit.ly/WSTFALL23

This tour is a collaboration between Whistle-Stop Tours and the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice.

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Nov
9
7:00 PM19:00

The Philadelphia Eleven Documentary Film Screening

Join the Resource Center for Women + Ministry in the South for a screening of The Philadelphia Eleven, a groundbreaking story about faith, inclusivity, and the women who transformed an age-old institution.

In 1974 a group of women and their supporters organized their ordination to become Episcopal priests. The ordinations took place at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia and became a media frenzy. In this film, you’ll meet the women who succeeded in transforming The Episcopal Church. Stay for a post-screening discussion with two members of the Philadelphia Eleven, Rev. Dr. Carter Heyward and Rev. Canon Marie Moorefield Fleischer.

Film trailer: 

https://www.philadelphiaelevenfilm.com/trailer.html 

Tickets are sold out but sign up for the waitlist below!

Sponsors: Resource Center for Women & Ministry in the South, St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, the Pauli Murray Center, the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina.

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Oct
14
10:00 AM10:00

Roots and Soul: Walking with Pauli Murray Public Tour

Roots and Soul: Walking with Pauli Murray is a 90-minute 1-square-mile tour around the historic West End Neighborhood of Durham. Tour goers will visit 6 stops and be inspired by Pauli Murray's legacy and the unique contributions of the Fitzgerald family to the educational, economic, and cultural fabric of Durham.

Aya Shabu and Conductors share emancipation strategies from the voices of a Black Civil War soldier, the Freedman Schools movement, and from unsung s/hero Pauli Murray - a relentless pioneer and activist of Black civil rights, women's rights, and LGBTQ rights.

For the safety and enjoyment of all participants on the tour, please be advised that the tour route includes two moderate hills (one ascending and one descending), limited public sidewalks, and uneven ground.

You can register for 1 of 3 public dates here: https://bit.ly/WSTFALL23

This tour is a collaboration between Whistle-Stop Tours and the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice.

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Sep
27
to Sep 28

September Book Club: Pet - Akwaeke Emezi

The Center will restart the monthly book club this September. This month, we'll meet on September 27th virtually at 6:30 PM with two co-facilitators. Visit your local library or bookstore to grab a copy! Sign up below to receive the Zoom link.

CW: This book deals with themes of sexual violence, child abuse, and ableism. Please be gentle with yourself as you read. More detailed content warnings can be found online.

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Sep
9
10:00 AM10:00

Roots and Soul: Walking with Pauli Murray Public Tour

Roots and Soul: Walking with Pauli Murray is a 90-minute 1-square-mile tour around the historic West End Neighborhood of Durham. Tour goers will visit 6 stops and be inspired by Pauli Murray's legacy and the unique contributions of the Fitzgerald family to the educational, economic, and cultural fabric of Durham.

Aya Shabu and Conductors share emancipation strategies from the voices of a Black Civil War soldier, the Freedman Schools movement, and from unsung s/hero Pauli Murray - a relentless pioneer and activist of Black civil rights, women's rights, and LGBTQ rights.

For the safety and enjoyment of all participants on the tour, please be advised that the tour route includes two moderate hills (one ascending and one descending), limited public sidewalks, and uneven ground.

You can register for 1 of 3 public dates here: https://bit.ly/WSTFALL23

This tour is a collaboration between Whistle-Stop Tours and the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice.

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North Carolina Reads: Pauli Murray: A Personal and Political Life
May
11
6:30 PM18:30

North Carolina Reads: Pauli Murray: A Personal and Political Life

Join North Carolina Humanities for an interactive panel discussion examining themes from the North Carolina Reads selection Pauli Murray: A Personal and Political Life by Troy Saxby.

This panel will explore the life and work of Pauli Murray. This event features author Troy Saxby and Executive Director of the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice Barbara Lau in conversation moderated by North Carolina Humanities' Board Trustee Rebecca Reyes.

Register here.

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Post-Film Discussion: My Name Is Pauli Murray
Mar
31
7:00 PM19:00

Post-Film Discussion: My Name Is Pauli Murray

Join the Brooklyn Museum on International Transgender Day of Visibility for a screening of My Name Is Pauli Murray (Julie Cohen and Betsy West, 2021, 91 min.).

The screening will be followed by a conversation between director Julie Cohen and Dr. Kimberly Springer, curator of the Oral History Archives at Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library and long-running collaborator with the Pauli Murray Center. Plus, enjoy an after-hours viewing of The Slipstream: Reflection, Resistance, and Resilience in the Art of Our Time.

Tickets are $16. Member tickets are $14.

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Book Launch: Pauli Murray: The Life of a Pioneering Feminist and Civil Rights Activist
Mar
2
6:30 PM18:30

Book Launch: Pauli Murray: The Life of a Pioneering Feminist and Civil Rights Activist

Join us for a discussion of Pauli Murray: The Life of a Pioneering Feminist and Civil Rights Activist with the authors, Rosita Stevens-Holsey and Terry Catasús Jennings, in conversation with Professor Melissa Harris-Perry.

Register for this free event at bit.ly/PauliMurrayBOOK

Order your copy from The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, North Carolina here: https://www.regulatorbookshop.com/book/9781499812510

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February Book Club: Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Feb
23
6:30 PM18:30

February Book Club: Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

The Pauli Murray Center's February 2022 book club discussion will be on Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. The conversation will be facilitated with author and educator Nicole Givens Kurtz!

When global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, California becomes full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds who will do anything to live to see another day. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy.

The book is available as a PDF here: bit.ly/PMCParable

We will hold our discussion on Wednesday, February 23, 2022 from 6:30 to 7:30 PM (EST) on Zoom. To attend, please register in advance at bit.ly/PMCFEB22BOOK.

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Preserving Pauli Murray's Legacy at the Fitzgerald Family Home
Feb
22
4:00 PM16:00

Preserving Pauli Murray's Legacy at the Fitzgerald Family Home

Engage with the vision of the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, descendant of brickmaking brothers Robert and Richard Fitzgerald. Learn more about the family's commitment to social justice and racial advancement and the evolution of Pauli Murray's childhood home in Durham, North Carolina from neighborhood icon to National Historic Landmark.

Join Barbara Lau, Executive Director, and Frachele Scott, Managing Director, from the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice for Preservation North Carolina’s Shelter Series that ties into stories from the We Built This: Profiles of Black Architects and Builders in North Carolina traveling exhibit.

Register here.

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My Name is Pauli Murray: Exploring Race and Gender Equity
Feb
15
9:00 PM21:00

My Name is Pauli Murray: Exploring Race and Gender Equity

Join the City of West Hollywood’s Human Rights Speakers Series for a conversation discussing the documentary My Name is Pauli Murray. A pioneering attorney, social justice activist, and priest, Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray shaped landmark litigation—and consciousness— around race and gender equity.

Special Guest Panelists:

Talleah Bridges McMahon, Producer, My Name is Pauli Murray

Barbara Lau, Executive Director, The Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice

Bryce Cracknell, Impact Producer, Participant

Moderated by City of West Hollywood Councilmember John M. Erickson, Ph.D.

Register here.

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Pauli Murray Center: January Book Club
Jan
26
6:30 PM18:30

Pauli Murray Center: January Book Club

The Pauli Murray Center's January 2022 book club discussion will be on Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness by Da'Shaun Harrison.

Belly of the Beast is a brief but powerful and informative book. Taking on desirability politics, f*ckability, healthism, hyper-sexualization, invisibility, and the connections between anti-fatness and police violence, Harrison viscerally and vividly illustrates the myriad harms of anti-fat anti-Blackness–and offers strategies for dismantling denial, unlearning the cultural programming that says “fat is bad,” and moving beyond the world we have now toward one that makes space for the fat and Black.

We will hold our discussion on Wednesday, January 26th from 6:30 to 7:30 PM (EST) on Zoom. To attend, please register in advance at bit.ly/PMCJAN22BOOK.

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Instagram Takeover with Jaimee Swift, Black Women Radicals
Dec
17
5:30 PM17:30

Instagram Takeover with Jaimee Swift, Black Women Radicals

Keep an eye on our Instagram page this Friday for a takeover with Jaimee Swift, the executive director and founder of @blackwomenradicals!

Jaimee A. Swift (she/her) is the executive director, creator, and founder of Black Women Radicals, a Black feminist advocacy organization dedicated to uplifting and centering Black women and gender expansive people's radical activism in Africa and in the African Diaspora. She is also the creator and founder of The School for Black Feminist Politics (SBFP), the Black feminist political education arm of Black Women Radicals. As a political and cultural custodian dedicated to uncovering, restoring, and restituting Black women and gender expansive people's political memories, movements, narratives, and leadership, Swift works with Black feminist-activists, organizers, scholars, and educators from around the world to explore and expand on the power, possibilities, and futurity of Black feminisms.

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Pauli Murray Center: December Book Club
Dec
15
6:30 PM18:30

Pauli Murray Center: December Book Club

Join us on Wednesday, December 15th from 6:30 to 7:30 PM to discuss Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde. This is a beautiful autobiography that explores Audre Lorde's childhood and early adulthood. The conversation will be led by Brittany Bennett Weston and co-sponsored by Mobile Homecoming.

Please register in advance at http://bit.ly/PMCDECBOOK.

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Pauli Murray's History: A Journey in Performance
Dec
8
6:00 PM18:00

Pauli Murray's History: A Journey in Performance

Our 75-minute virtual tour relives the memories of Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray’s ancestors and how they helped shape remarkable places in Durham.

Register now to witness powerful performances from local artists and learn more about Durham’s history of activism, growth, and change.

This tour is a collaboration between Whistle Stop Tours and the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice.

Get your tickets on Eventbrite here.

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Celebrate Pauli Murray's 111th Birthday
Nov
19
to Nov 21

Celebrate Pauli Murray's 111th Birthday

Join us to celebrate the 111th birthday of the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray! We have online and in-person events this weekend.

On Friday evening, join us on Zoom for an evening of short documentaries about amazing people and places in our West End Neighborhood.

On Saturday afternoon, Claire Alexandre will be leading a public art ceremony at the Center and inviting us to remember, rejoice and reimagine in community. Drop by anytime between 12 and 3 PM!

On Sunday afternoon, join us to meet creative people Brett Cook and Courtney Reid-Eaton who led the community process of their creation. The project, Face Up: Telling Stories of Community Life, inspired by a quote from Pauli Murray, included the creation of 14 murals.

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My Name Is Pauli Murray Discussion
Nov
18
4:00 PM16:00

My Name Is Pauli Murray Discussion

Join the Women’s Foundation California’s Culture Change Fund Partners, Participant, and Harness for a salon moderated by Aria Sa’id, spotlighting Pauli Murray’s life’s work as a Black LGBTQ activist, feminist, lawyer, priest, and poet.

Speakers include:

SPEAKERS

Learn more and register here.

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Pauli Murray Center: November Book Club
Nov
17
6:30 PM18:30

Pauli Murray Center: November Book Club

Join us on Wednesday, November 17th from 6:30 to 7:30 PM to discuss:

  1. The chapter titled "Queering Jane Crow: Pauli Murray's Quest for an Unhyphenated Identity" from Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women by Dr. Brittney Cooper. You can access the chapter, with permission from the author, for free here.

  2. The article “Pauli Murray and the Pronomial Problem: A De-Essentialist Trans Historiography” by Naomi Simmons-Thorne. The conversation will be facilitated by Dr. Kimberly Springer, Black feminist memory worker, author, researcher and digital culturalist. The essay by Simmons Thorne is available here.

Please register in advance at bit.ly/PMCNOVBOOK.

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Pauli's Invitation: The Activist's Pilgrimage
Nov
13
10:00 AM10:00

Pauli's Invitation: The Activist's Pilgrimage

Our 75-minute virtual tour relives the memories of Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray’s ancestors and how they helped shape remarkable places in Durham.

Register now to witness powerful performances from local artists and learn more about Durham’s history of activism, growth, and change.

This tour is a collaboration between Whistle Stop Tours and the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice.

This tour is a collaboration between Whistle Stop Tours and the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice.

Get your tickets on Eventbrite here.

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Pauli Murray Center: October Book Club
Oct
27
6:30 PM18:30

Pauli Murray Center: October Book Club

The Pauli Murray Center's October 2021 book club will be on the chapter titled "Devine's Cut: Public Memory and the Politicis of Martyrdom" from Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton. The chapter is available as a PDF, with permission from the author, here.

We'll meet on Zoom on Wednesday, October 27th from 6:30 to 7:30 PM EST.

Please register in advance at bit.ly/PMCOCTBOOK.

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Pauli Murray Day with Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum
Oct
9
4:00 PM16:00

Pauli Murray Day with Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum

A day to explore and celebrate the legacy of Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray. The event will include presentations by Barbara Lau of the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice and historian Anna Bergman, readings of Dr. Murray's poetry by Myla Jay, and a pecial preview of new Dr. Murray-related art. In person with masks required and streaming. More information is available here.

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