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GU I D E to Y E L L OW S P R I NG S | 2O22 – 2O23 15 annual H.U.M.A.N. Day cel- ebrations and other activities drew the likes of civil rights troubadour Pete Seeger, who played several benefit concerts at Antioch; the Rev. C.T. Vivian, who later joined forces with Dunn and Dick Gregory to form the beginnings of the Peoples’ Institute for Sur - vival and Beyond; and Eddie Carthan, the first Black person elected in Mississippi since Reconstruction. H.U.M.A.N. members trav- eled, too, both to protest and to train. For example, Dunn took a contingent of mem - bers to Carthan’s hometown after Carthan was convicted, along with six of his friends, of assaulting a police officer. Car - than said he had been framed, and was later acquitted. H.U.M.A.N. members attended a training at the legendary Highlander Center in Knoxville, Tenn., which had taught many activists skills in community organizing and non - violent civil disobedience. H.U.M.A.N. member Neal Crandall recalled the impact of the trip. “We were dealing with heavy-hitters,” Crandall said. “We got exposed to some nationally known activists who were in it to win it.” Another memorable trip was to protest a Ku Klux Klan rally in nearby Middletown, where Donna Silvert encountered the face of hate for the first time. “The scariest thing to me was that it was the first time I was face-to-face with [a Klan member], and they looked like anyone,” Silvert said. H.U.M.A.N. members dem- onstrated at the Ohio Supreme Court to restore welfare funds, walked barefoot down U.S. Route 68 from Springfield to demonstrate the plight of poor mothers who could not afford shoes for their children and were county leaders for Jesse Jackson’s 1984 presidential campaign. In addition to issues of poverty, sexism and racism, H.U.M.A.N. members got involved in a wide variety of issues, from freedom of speech to farm labor organiz - ing. To Joan Chappelle, that was one of the strengths of H.U.M.A.N. “We all struggled with our own issues and with trying to understand all the other issues that were out there, and tried to coalesce as a group,” she said. Dunn moved to New Orleans in 1985 to focus on his work with the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, which he had founded a few years earlier with Ron Chism and other activists. Building upon the curriculum that Dunn and Bill Chappelle created for the “Racism and Discrimination” class they taught at Antioch, the “Undoing Racism” work - shops were born. But Dunn’s departure left a power vacuum in Yellow Springs. H.U.M.A.N. mem- bers took about a year off to reassess and then formed the Human Organizing Committee. But, Crandall said, it was not the same. “We continued to organize around combating racism, but it never had quite the same energy as the first incarnation of the group.” Over the last few years, villagers have continued to revive H.U.M.A.N., which has contributed to the 2020–21 rallies and marches following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, events like Juneteenth and the fund - ing of a mural in honor of Black author Virginia Ham - ilton, the late village native. In September 2022, the H.U.M.A.N. Racial Justice and Human Rights Library was dedicated in honor of Dunn, Chappelle and community activist Glynna Garrett. It will serve as a resource for antira- cist community organizers. ♦ Detox. RELAX. Breathe. THINK. Dream. RECOVER. Enjoy. Float sessions range from 1 hour to 8 hours. 937-696-9595 www.GravitySpa.com