Civil Rights Trip January 2020

Little Rock Central High School In addition to visiting Little Rock Central High School and learning about the Little Rock Nine, we had the honor of meeting Dr. Sybil Jordan Hampton.  Dr. Hampton grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and in 1962, five years after integration of the Little Rock Nine, she became the first African American student to complete her entire education at Little Rock Central High School. Students with Dr. Sybil Jordan Hampton

We visited the Rosedale Freedom Project in Rosedale, MS. The Rosedale Freedom Project is a youth empowerment organization that is inspired by the and continues the work of the Freedom Schools created during the Civil Rights Movement.  We also celebrated Delayn’s (Park ‘20) birthday!  Here's a  video   the RFP made about our visit. 

We had the honor of having lunch with Cleopatra Gore (school teacher during the Children's Crusade), Charles Avery (protester during the Children's Crusade) , Kimberly McNair Brock (sister of Denise McNair), and Sherrel Stewart (journalist). Students on the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church Students introducing Cleopatra Goree Traci Wright with Charles Avery

"Someone's hurting my people and it's gone on far too long, and it's gone on far too long, and it's gone on far too long.  I say, someone's hurting my people and it's gone on far too long, and I won't be silent anymore." What I can’t be silent about anymore is how black women are not appreciate more -Mikaela One thing that I will begin to fight for is equality for women of color in all aspects of life. Careers , education, society, etc. In the work force, women period and considered inferior to men when in reality we can do any job just as well , if not better. We must must encourage and remind young girls of color that they are brilliant and are capable of achieving momentous things. They will not fall into any negative stereotypes set in place for us by the ignorant and weak minded individuals in the eras before us.  -Domiontaye After everything that I have experienced today, I became inspired. I am inspired to...

Students at Dr. King’s Birth Home in Atlanta In Maryland, if a white woman had a black man's child, no matter what the circumstance, she would go to jail. -Valerie One exhibition that struck me today was the Coretta Scott King and Dr. King timeline in the visitor center of Ebenezer Church. I have learned a lot about Dr. King through the years, but I had never known so much about his wife, who was a very big activist herself, not just for civil rights, but for women’s rights. I liked that each of their timelines were on their own side if the room: it is important to remember Dr. King and Mrs. King for their own legacies, as well as together. This ability to see both of their timelines separately and together is what made this room extremely interesting. We also got to attend church today and I would like to conclude with one phrase that I remembered during the Pastor’s sermon: “If your neighbor gets blessed, don’t be jealous. It just means God is in the neighborhood” -A...

Ezra found a piano at the King Center in Atlanta. 

The International Civil Rights Center and Museum and the A&T Four The thing that really stuck with me today was seeing Emmett Till. I first heard about his story when I was nine so it was nothing new, but I hadn’t seen his face in a few years. The change from a happy 14 year old to the brutalized body in that casket stung me. I keep thinking how that could’ve been me, how it can still be me. The hate and ignorance that still persists in this country is horrible and it requires action from everyone for things to change.  -Ry One thing that struck me was how there were so many Caucasians who wanted to be a part of helping integration become something normal. I loved that, because people realized that it’s not a race thing; it’s just hate. Something that relates to that in modern times is, for example,not only gay people fight for gay rights. Straight people do also. Same with Black Lives Matter; it’s not only black people that are protesting it. It’s all differe...