During summer 2021, MIRA received a visit from Dr. Paul Ortiz and 20 students from the University of Florida at Gainesville (UF). Dr. Ortiz, an author and professor of history at UF, directs an initiative called the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP), which “is committed to using critical historical inquiry and digital humanities production to encourage civic engagement and dialogue between the past, present and the future.” SPOHP has conducted some 8,500 interviews over the past 50 years, and Dr. Ortiz and students came to Mississippi to connect with MIRA leadership and others.

The SPOHP team interviewed MIRA Legal Project Director Patricia Ice, Lead Organizer Luis Espinoza, Visiting Attorney Brenda Chambliss, Development and Marketing Coordinator Loida Ventura, Board President Jim Evans, Executive Director Bill Chandler, and Board member Dr. Ivory Phillips.

You can listen to some of the interviews on the SPOHP Youtube channel, and learn more about the SPOHP program here.