December 12th, 2011
On August 23, 2011, APP had the immense pleasure of honoring our Co-Founder Wayne Flynt.
A sold-out crowd gathered at Woodlawn’s Woodrow Hall to celebrate the publication of Dr. Flynt’s memoir, Keeping the Faith: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives.
In his powerful testimony, Dr. Flynt captured the essence of his story.
“I am an historian. I was shaped by a new way of telling history, telling the story from bottom up instead of top down, trying to convince ordinary people who didn’t even know they had a history that history happens to everyone because everyone has origins, struggles, failures, and victories.
“For me that consisted of public activism and university outreach, or taking Alabama history off the campus and to the people, out of the sanitized classroom and into the cacophonous public square. “
Dr. Flynt is a Professor Emeritus of History at Auburn University and a prolific writer with 12 books to his name, including the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Poor But Proud: Alabama’s Poor Whites.
Dr. Flynt challenged and inspired the crowd to take the long view of his work – and our work – to make Alabama a better, more just place for us all. As little as 50 years ago, Dr. Flynt said, that gathering of business leaders, activists, ministers, and just plain folk would never have taken place.
Imagine what can happen during the next 50 years.
Editorial Coverage on APP’s Evening in Honor of Wayne Flynt:
Jim Evans, Montgomery Advertiser, August 23, 2011, Alabama Voices: Flynt has been the state’s conscience
Bob Blalock, Birmingham News, August 28, 2011: Wayne Flynt keeps the faith, and provides it
Here’s where you come in-
We know Wayne Flynt has a huge fan club in Alabama, and we’d like this page to be a place where you can share why Wayne has had such an influence in your life. Please leave a note in the comments.