Today, Agnew is the executive director of the Dream
Defenders, a group that promotes a mission of social change through the use
of nonviolent civil disobedience and civic engagement. He’s taken a big pay cut
and now makes only $29,000. But he’s finally doing what he loves. The Dream
Defenders are now beginning the third week of their sit-in at Gov. Rick Scott’s
office to protest Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.
The work of Dream Defenders is being supported by some of
the legendary civil rights leaders whom Agnew has long admired. They include
Harry Belafonte and John Due.
Belafonte made an appearance at the Florida capitol to
support the Dream Defenders on Friday, July 26. The internationally renowned
singer and actor was a close friend to Martin Luther King, Jr. He participated
in and helped finance 1960s protests such as the Freedom Rides, Freedom Summer,
and the March on Washington.
MSNBC host Chris Hayes interviewed Belafonte and Agnew on live television together
outside the governor’s office. Belafonte told Hayes that “I’ve come down to be
at the disposal of young people. Not only to tell the history from whence we’ve
come; but to talk for a host of artists who are very high profile, a number of
leaders who are very high profile, who are waiting to hear, ‘How do we look at
a strategy in the immediate future?’”
John Due (pictured with Agnew below) also visited the capitol building to stand with the
Dream Defenders on Wednesday, July 17. Due and late wife, Patricia Stephens, led
numerous nonviolent protests during their days as FAMU students
and members of the Congress of Racial Equality. Due, a FAMU Law alumnus, was a
Freedom Rider and civil rights attorney.
