KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS
This Bright Light of Ours: Alabama Department of Archives & History, Capitol Building, Montgomery, AL.
View the video: Gitin Book Talk https://youtu.be/HoBzhPYGV0k
The Voting Rights Fight, Keynote Speaker – King County 33rd Anniversary MLK Celebration, Seattle, WA .
Keynote speaker for community and government employee celebration honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Attended by 600.
View speech: https://youtu.be/iypeq1p45ww (Introduction begins at 18.38)
Martin Luther King Jr. Observance keynote speaker – Defense Language Institute (DLI), Presidio of Monterey, U.S. Army, Monterey, CA. Attended by 400 soldier-scholars.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance, Keynote– Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. Sponsored by the Black Community Services Center, the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
The Voice of Conscience: Civil Rights, Post Civil Rights and the Future Freedom Struggle, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Conference Plenary Speaker, African American and Diaspora Studies, and Religious Studies Celebration in Honor of Rev. Dr. Lewis V Baldwin.
This Bright Light of Ours: Stories from the 1965 Voting Rights Fight, Selma Interpretive Center, US National Park Service, Selma, AL
This Bright Light of Ours 1965: Stories from a Teenage Freedom Fighter in Rural Alabama, Black History Month Talk, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL. Sponsored by Department of History, USA Gender Studies program – College of Arts and Sciences, African-American Studies program, and USA Office of Multicultural Student Affairs
PANEL PRESENTATIONS
Social Protest and Social Justice: A Conversation Across Generations – Laney Moral Leadership, Candler Theological Seminary, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.
Panel discussion Moderated by Rose Scott, FOX News Atlanta, with Johnny Parham, Adelina Nicholls, and Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson.
View the discussion: https://vimeo.com/305559812
Southern Historical Association Conference – Hilton Hotel, Atlanta, GA
Freedom Now! Perspectives on the Struggle for Civil Rights in Wilcox County, Alabama. Panel moderated by Dr. Martha Jane Brazy.
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Voices of the 1965 Voting Rights Fight,
Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD), San Francisco
Panel discussion featuring: Maria Gitin, Bruce Hartford, Charles Bonner, and Wazir Peacock of the Bay Area Civil Rights Veterans Organization.
Paradigm Shift: New Direction and Opportunities for Diversity in Fund Raising – Columbia University, School of Professional Studies, Nonprofit Management Program Webinar, New York City. Diversity, equity and inclusion panel moderated by Ramone Segree, with Ruby Love and Alphonce Brown.
View the presentation: https://sps.columbia.edu/events/paradigm-shift-new-directions-and-opportunities-diversity-fundraising-due-racial-equity
West Coast Voting Rights Act 50th Anniversary Celebration, Salinas, CA
Panelist with Cruz Reynoso, former justice of the California Supreme Court, and activists Daniel Dodge, Sr., and Juan Martinez.
Read about the event: Group reflects on Voting Rights Act in Salinas
http://www.thecalifornian.com/story/news/local/2015/08/07/group-reflects-voting-rights-act-salinas/31316301/
Forging Alliances and Building Coalitions – California Social Studies Conference, Burlingame, CA.
Panelist with SNCC Chairman Phil Hutchings at statewide teacher conference.
BOOK TALKS
Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz , CA ; Copperfield’s Books, Petaluma CA; Eso Won Bookstore, Los Angeles, CA; Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle WA; St James Hotel, Selma Jubilee, Selma AL; History Museum of Mobile Alabama, Mobile AL; Middlebury Institute of International Studies, Monterey , CA; Shalom Education Center, Pleasant Hill, TN and more.
CONFERENCES and SPECIAL EVENTS
Organizing Our Strengths for Tomorrow, SNCC 60th Anniversary Conference, October 14-16, 2021. https://sncc60thanniversary.org Breakout group leader.
¡Vote! Su Voto es Su Voz/Vote! Your Voice in Your Vote – Art & History Exhibit and Programs, Pajaro Valley Arts Gallery, Watsonville, CA April- May 2019 and January-December 2020 at Santa Cruz County Elections Department, Santa Cruz Government Center.
Maria Gitin curated this exhibit, which was accompanied by a film series presented by Watsonville Film Festival and with panel discussions on current and historic voting rights. Co-curated with Judy Stabile, the exhibit featured Bob Fitch historic photos, Maria Gitin’s civil rights artifacts: View the exhibit: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=f2PGHUVjamC
Congressional Medal of Honor Ceremony for Voting Rights Foot Soldiers – US Capitol Visitors Center, Washington, D.C. – February 24, 2016
Guest of Congressman Sam Farr and Selma Foot Soldiers.
View the personal slide show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tguJKkukwJ0
Past & Present: A Gathering with Freedom Movement Veterans – West Coast Civil Rights Veterans 50th Year Reunion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA– April 11, 2015
Co-sponsored by the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute at Stanford University and by the Bay Area Civil Rights Veterans. Maria Gitin was an organizer and presenter.
View the video: https://youtu.be/m2cz6vJnWZs
Southern Christian Leadership (SCLC) Summer Conference on Community Organiziation and Political Education (SCOPE) 50th Anniversary Reunion – Marriott Century Center, Atlanta
Served on Organizing Committee, and as a featured speaker, and workshop leader.