CONWAY, Ark. (March 15, 2022) – Hendrix College alumnus
Ronnie Williams ’76 recently published Markham
Street, which shares his family’s quest for justice following the
death of his brother Marvin Leonard Williams, a 20-year-old Black paratrooper,
who died in police custody in 1960. More than two decades later, his parents
received an eyewitness letter confirming Marvin’s brutal murder at the Faulkner
County Jail. The book also offers a glimpse into the struggles Black families
in the South dealt with and continue to face.
“Our family’s experience is not an exception,” said Williams,
a Menifee native. “I am speaking on behalf of the thousands of Marvin Williams
whose stories will never be told with the hope of inspiring others to address
systemic racism in America.”
Williams will be a featured speaker at the virtual Hendrix
College Alumni Weekend 2022 on Saturday, April 2, at 5 p.m. He will be
interviewed by his spouse, Connie Williams, a longtime Hendrix librarian. For
more information on Alumni Weekend 2022, visit www.hendrix.edu/alumniweekend.
Williams will participate in a local book signing on
Thursday, March 31, at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center. The event
will include a panel discussion at 5:30 p.m., followed by a meet and greet with
Williams. Fully vaccinated individuals are invited to attend free of charge. Markham
Street is available at Amazon, Book
Baby, and Walmart.
About the Author
Williams recently retired as vice president for Student
Services and Institutional Diversity at the University of Central Arkansas
(UCA). During his more than three decades at UCA, he served as assistant dean
of students, director of Minority Affairs, assistant to the president and chief
diversity officer. He was the first person of color to chair the Conway Area
Chamber of Commerce and Conway Development Corporation board. He is the former
chair of the Arkansas Educational Television Commission. He holds a bachelor’s
degree from Hendrix College and an M.S.E. from Arkansas State University. For
more information, visit ronniewilliamsauthor.com.
About Hendrix
College
A private liberal arts college in Conway,
Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently earns recognition as one of the
country’s leading liberal arts institutions, and
is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change
the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic quality and rigor,
innovation, and value have established Hendrix as a fixture in numerous college
guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has been affiliated with
the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.