Cultural Conversation: "Selma Is Now – Legacy, Lens, and Liberation"

Join us for a powerful conversation between entrepreneur and art advocate Doug McCraw and award-winning equity strategist and activist Chevara Orrin, as they explore the enduring impact of James “Spider” Martin’s iconic photographs of the 1965 Selma voting rights marches. This panel, held in conjunction with the Selma Is Now exhibition, delves into the intersection of art, activism, and historical memory.

McCraw, co-founder of FATVillage and a driving force behind the exhibition’s national tour, brings insight into the role of visual storytelling in shaping public consciousness and preserving civil rights history. Orrin, a social justice leader and daughter of Selma march architect James Bevel, offers a deeply personal and generational perspective on the movement’s legacy and its relevance today.

Together, they will reflect on Martin’s searing images—from the violence of “Bloody Sunday” to the triumph of the Montgomery march—and discuss how these photographs continue to inspire action and dialogue around democracy, equity, and justice. This conversation invites audiences to consider how the past informs the present—and how the spirit of Selma lives on.

This program is sponsored by Wayne and Lucretia Weiner and presented in conjunction with the exhibition “Selma is Now: The Photography of Spider Martin,” in partnership with Broward Cultural Division and on display at AARLCC through June 27, 2026.

Doug McCaw

Doug McCraw is an entrepreneur and art collector. He co-founded IMX3, a company building virtual reality platforms for museums, galleries, private collections, and art projects and also FATVillage Metaverse, an artist community in virtual reality. Doug has been involved in recent art exhibitions including "Thornton Dial I Too Am Alabama" at AEIVA UAB in Birmingham, "Myths, Secrets, Lies, and Truths" at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, and "Selma Is Now" Spider Martin Photographs at EJI and Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery and now at NAAM in Seattle, WA. He is a co-founder and developer of FATVillage, a city designated arts district in the Fort Lauderdale city center that grew into a community of artists, galleries, theatres, and artist studios. He is also a co-founder of Art + Light + Space Studios with partners Peter Symons, Leah Brown, and Lutz Hofbauer. Doug is a graduate of the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and remains active with board work on the campus.

Chevara Orrin

Chevara Orrin is an award-winning equity strategist, social entrepreneur, author, filmmaker, global explorer, citizen scientist, and activist whose work bridges storytelling, justice, and collective liberation. She is the visionary co-founder of We Are Straight Allies, a national campaign that helped secure passage of Jacksonville’s Human Rights Ordinance in 2017, expanding comprehensive LGBTQ protections across the city and state. She is also the creator of White And Woke, an initiative inspiring white Americans to take intentional action toward racial equity. The daughter of Susanne Jackson, a Jewish anti-war organizer, and James Luther Bevel, a chief strategist to Dr. King and architect of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade and the Selma-to-Montgomery March, she carries forward a family lineage of courage, disruption, and radical imagination. Her leadership has been recognized by the White House and the Human Rights Campaign and featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN.

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