Attending a Lecture on Brown vs. Board of Education by Julian Bond :: Lectures Julian Bond Race Segregation

Broken Promise of Brown I attended a lecture entitled the Broken Promise of Brown which was given by Julian Bond. This took place at Smith Memorial Hall on April 2 at 7:30 p.m. As I entered the building and made my way to the main entrance of the auditorium, I noticed that this CAS/MillerComm lecture was more formal than the usual CAS/MillerComm lectures. CAS/MillerComm was the sponsor of this event and also sponsors an entire lecture series free to the public. As I entered the auditorium there were a cameraman and interviewer asking people as they walked in what they knew about the Brown vs. Board decision. Or at least that was one of the questions I overheard as I snuck past them in to the auditorium. As I walked down the aisle I wanted to try to get good a seat near the front. I made it all the way to the fourth row and asked some old white ladies if the seat on the end was taken. It was, but the fourth seat from the aisle was not. So I squeezed past them and sat down. At this time I opened my notebook and began taking notes on some of my observations. As I looked around, I noticed that most of the people at this particular lecture were black or white. And it seemed that there was a good mix of older students, middle aged people and older folks, all seemingly either black or white. Most of the older folks sat in the front, probably for sight reasons, and most of the older students sat in the back, probably just to attend the lecture and leave. As I was sitting waiting for the lecture to begin I looked at some of those around me. I sat on the left side of the auditorium in the fourth row, fourth seat. To my immediate right were two white old ladies and one white old man. To my left were an open seat and then sat three black men clad in black suits, most likely in their later twenties. In front of me, were three black women in what appeared to be their thirties, how accurate my gauge of age is I am not too sure, and also a younger black man.