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Civil Rights Activist Bree Newsome to Speak at MU

Ten days after the 2015 shooting at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, activist Bree Newsome scaled the 30-foot flagpole in front of the state's Capitol building in Columbia, South Carolina.

She removed its Confederate flag, which was never lowered after the shooting, and gained national recognition as a civil rights activist.

On Jan. 23, 2019, she will come to MU as the featured speaker for the annual MU Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. event, appearing at 7 p.m. at Jesse Auditorium.

As a filmmaker, musician and writer, Newsome uses her art as a medium for civil rights. https://vimeo.com/12133650" target="_blank">She wrote and directed "Wake," which was named the Best Narrative Short Film during the 2011 BET Urbanworld Film Festival. 

The year after her famous act of civil disobedience in South Carolina, she received the NAACP Chairman's Award and was named one of the 100 most influential African Americans by The Root.

She has traveled across the country to teach activists how to create change through grassroots movements, according to her website. She has also been interviewed on "The Nightly Show" and "Good Morning America."

The event is free, and tickets will be available in mid-December at the Missouri Theatre box office and the MU Student Center ticket office.