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African American History & Culture - Since 1975

BECK CULTURAL 
EXCHANGE CENTER

Seated in Courage, Moving in Unity

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1ST

Time - TBA

BECK RIDES HONORING ROSA PARKS

Short Description

The Beck Cultural Exchange Center, in partnership with Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) and the Knoxville News Sentinel, will host “Beck Rides Honoring Rosa Parks,” a live community tribute and commemorative bus ride marking the 70th anniversary of Rosa Parks’s arrest and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.


 

About the Beck Bus Ride

This year marks 70 years since Rosa Parks’s courageous stand ignited the Montgomery Bus Boycott, reshaping the nation’s conscience. Beck and KAT are honoring that legacy with a community-wide act of remembrance, encouraging all Knoxvillians to “ride for Rosa.”

 

The event, “Beck Rides Honoring Rosa Parks,” will feature a symbolic bus ride beginning at the Beck Cultural Exchange Center. Guests will join a short program aboard a KAT bus, which will include a live reenactment of Mrs. Parks’s historic act of courage performed by acclaimed theatrical artist Artece Slay. The ride will also feature freedom songs, remarks by Rev. Dr. Harold Middlebrook, and the debut of a short commemorative video produced in collaboration with the Knoxville News Sentinel.


Registration is required. Stay tuned for details.

SAVE THE DATE

BECK HOLIDAY PARTY

COVENANT HEALTH PARK | SMOKIES STADIUM

Enjoy  Food, Fellowship, Live Entertainment & a Spectacular Holiday Lighting Show

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See you at the party!

More Info

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“I think you’re right that we’re doomed to repeat tragedies until we all learn more from our history. More light needs to be shined on the history of our Black communities.”
Harrison Boyd, Knoxville, TN

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A Statement from Beck was issued after Mr. George Perry Floyd, Jr., an African American unarmed man, was killed after being publicly tortured for 8 minutes and 46 seconds by police in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 2020. 
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WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT BECK
 

NIKKI 
GIOVANNI
Author, Poet, Educator &
Native of Knoxville, TN

“I was so inspired by the stories and the history shared as well as all the wonderful work that Beck is doing. A very special day that gave me strength in our journey for racial justice.”
Felicia Gustin, Berkley, CA
“It is with hope for real change, I'm sending this check. Hopefully, we will begin to move toward justice."
Nancy Lindemer, Knoxville, TN
"We endeavor to be part of the solution and wish to partner with the Beck to do our part. Please count on us to provide support to all people of color facing cancer and in any other way that helps our community move forward.”
Beth Hamil, Cancer Support Community of East TN
"I had a wonderful time visiting the Beck Cultural Center! Thank you so much for sharing the wonderful black history of Tennessee.”
Shayla C. Nunnally, Ph.D., Manchester, CT

Over 200 Years of History & Culture

Maurice Franklin Mays

August 30,1919, the race relations climate in Knoxville took a bloody turn and the city became one of the “Red Summer” cities during a time when race riots were erupting all across the nation. Maurice F. Mays, a handsome black man born around 1887, was accused of murdering a white woman and Knoxville erupted in violence. 
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What's Happening 
@ The Beck

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