Activist Judy Richardson at Mount Holyoke
Judy Richardson, civil rights activist and filmmaker, was in conversation with Mount Holyoke College President Danielle R. Holley for the College’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Series on Racial Justice and Reconciliation.
In a stirring keynote for Mount Holyoke College’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Series on Racial Justice and Reconciliation, legendary civil rights activist and documentarian Judy Richardson shared lessons from a lifetime of organizing. In conversation with President Danielle R. Holley on Jan. 29, 2026, and covered by the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Richardson reflected on her pivotal years with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and her career as a filmmaker.
Richardson’s journey began in the early 1960s when she joined student sit-ins and voter registration drives across the South. She recounted the dangerous but essential work of the Freedom Summer movement, emphasizing, “If you do nothing, nothing changes.”
A central theme of her talk was the vital role of women’s leadership. Richardson noted that SNCC was unique for its time, as its young members were accustomed to seeing women like Ella Baker and Diane Nash not just as participants, but as architects of the movement.
The event featured a screening of a segment from the award-winning documentary series “Eyes on the Prize,” for which Richardson served as associate producer.
Richardson reminded the audience that the struggle for justice is intergenerational. She described activism as a commitment to a community that persists even when the final victory is not yet in sight. “The importance of what we’re doing is that we are staying in community with one another,” she said. “We still believe that if you do something, things will change, [but] maybe not in your lifetime.”
