In celebration of Women's History Month, Winston-Salem State University, Salem College and Wake Forest are presenting events March 29 and 30 on women's contributions to the Civil Rights Movement as they relate to "Hands on the Freedom Plow," a book published in 2010 featuring personal accounts of women involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

On March 29, Bernice Johnson Reagon will present a "songtalk" from 7 to 9 p.m. in Dillard Auditorium in the Anderson Conference Center on the campus of Winston-Salem State University.  A book signing and reception will immediately follow the event.

On March 30, a panel discussion and book signing featuring editor Betty Garman Robinson and contributors Bernice Johnson Reagon, Margaret Herring and Jeanne Breaker Johnson will be held from noon to 2 p.m. in Shirley Recital Hall in the Salem Fine Arts Center at Salem College.  A book signing and reception will immediately follow the event.  All four women were organizers for SNCC during the Civil Rights Movement.

Betty Garman Robinson is a longtime social justice organizer in Baltimore, Maryland.  Bernice Johnson Reagon is a composer, song leader, scholar, and producer.  She founded the Grammy award-winning African-American female a cappella ensemble, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and was an original member of The Freedom Singers in the 1960s.

"Hands on the Freedom Plow" is an unprecedented women's history of the Civil Rights Movement, from sit-ins to Black Power.  It highlights the voices of 52 women - northern and southern - who share their courageous personal stories of working for the SNCC on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement.

These events are sponsored by: Winston-Salem State University, Salem College, Wake Forest, Old Salem Museums and Gardens, Forsyth County Democratic Women, Winston-Salem Human Relations Commission and Wake Forest Baptist Church.