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Strength for the Struggle | Rev. Joseph Ellwanger | Talks at Google

2,147 views · Published 10 August 2016 · 50:43 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: Talks at Google · 2016 · Nonprofits & Activism

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Talks at Google and the Black Googler Network hosted Civil Rights Movement leader Rev. Joseph Ellwanger and his wife Joyce at Google Chicago.  The Ellwangers share inspiring insight into their lifetime of social justice advocacy, much of which is captured in Joe Ellwanger’s book, Strength For The Struggle, a collection of lessons learned from involvement in the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama in the 1960s and later in the peace and justice movement in the Midwest’s inner cities.

Joe’s career spans five decades.  He was  a minister of St. Paul Lutheran Church, an African-American congregation in Birmingham, Alabama during the height of the Civil Rights Movement and was one of the few white Southern ministers to actively support the Movement.  He worked alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to plan demonstrations in Birmingham, led a 1965 march on Selma in support of voting rights, and later met with President Lyndon Johnson to secure his support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Joe continued to work in Birmingham until relocating to Milwaukee, where he served as a minister until 2001. 

Today, Joe and Joyce work with a coalition of faith-based groups focused on social justice issues.

The conversation was moderated by Zach Horan and Robin Joseph.

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