At the third annual Honors Convocation on Wednesday, Bruce Watson, author of “Freedom Summer: The Savage Season that Made Mississippi Burn and Made America a Democracy,” urged students to “break barriers” and connect with one another.
“Freedom Summer,” the Honors College’s required reading this semester, chronicles the tale of summer 1964, when 700 volunteers who descended into the heart of Mississippi to enact change in a racially prejudiced society.
That summer “was pivotal in granting African-Americans the right to vote,” Watson said.
As the title claims, Watson credits Freedom Summer for making America a democracy.
“Ten percent [of the population] really couldn’t vote. How can you call that a democracy?” he said.
When asked what inspired him to write the book, Watson credited meeting “legendary figure” Bob Moses, the “architect of Freedom could.”
“Idealism is eternal,” he said.
Biology freshman Desi Stewart said she was “surprised he actually left out some