Show r J a 0 y V Professor Mildred Millie Sparks Professor Sparks participated in Civil Rights movement Melissa Contributing Writer Mildred Millie T. T Sparks associate ate professor at grew up in a atypical atypical atypical typical neighborhood in Montgomery Alabama but her childhood was anything but typical Her life began i in the segregated south before and during the Civil Rights Movement Jim Crow a part of my life I know them first fast hand Sparks said But my mom and dad instilled in us that that would change and we needed to be strong and know who we were so sowe we could be ready to tomake tomake tomake make that change Sparks herself helped bring about that change her parents often spoke of She participated actively in the Civil Rights Movement including the Alabama Bus Strike She knew such Civil Rights leaders as Rosa Parks and Dr Martin Luther King Jr I met Dr King He would come cometo to Montgomery to talk to the youth at atthe atthe atthe the Holt Street Baptist Church and we would come as young adults to hear him When I first saw a glimmer of him that's when I first fast knew the change my parents talked about Change in the segregated south would happen We would make it happen and we would do it vio non-vio- Sparks influenced by her parents who were both educators went on to become a teacher She moved to Salt Lake in 1987 with her late husband John when his company transferred him here Using her own life experiences asa as asa asa a base Sparks has developed a diversity diversity diversity diver diver- sity course at called Opening Diverse Doors The class seeks to educate students about racism and the globalization tion of America Sparks encourages her students to do the same thing her parents taught her to todo todo todo do to learn about themselves You must know who you are then you can move from who you areto are areto areto to learn about other people she said In addition to teaching Opening Diverse Doors LE 1360 Sparks also currently teaches Essentials of College Studies LE 1020 Advanced Reading Reading and Developmental Reading Reading at |