Happy Birthday, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.!

"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 stand up and to be an activist. There has been many atrocities and it has only been getting worse. I will not be silent about things that are going on in my city anymore. I am going to stand up and fight for my city. 

- Kyla

I won’t be silent about the people that are put into tough situations just like the kids did for their parents and the adults, which is why the children’s march happened.  Some people in tough situations may want to change things but either they don’t know how or something life changing is stopping them and if I can help even one person than that’s still changing the world.
-Amber

I will not be silent about the patterns I’ve noticed throughout history and see day. Whether it be systemic injustices or new day issues that history has effected.
-Jack

Today was a heavy day for me, as my attention was drawn to a lot, and there were moments that I would close my eyes or stare at the ground to take it all in. One thing I will not be silent about, and will tell the whole truth about, is that slavery has evolved. We do not see as many black bodies standing out in 100 degree heat working for those who treated them as property; yet instead, we see Black men and women dragged into cages and beaten without reason. Today at the Legacy Museum, I followed the timeline that showed the treatment of Black people where each section was labeled as follows: kidnapped to terrorized to segregated to incarcerated. I read the statistic that 1 in 3 Black baby boys is expected to go to prison. I have a brother who just turned 14 yesterday, but he is still a baby to me.
In our circle, I shared that I felt responsible. It is my responsibility to learn and live to tell my story, the story of my family, and those who I have met who continue to be disenfranchised in this world we live in. 

-Lexi

Something I won’t stay silent for is education. This trip has taught me the value of education and the struggle many people have and had to go through in order to gain adequate education. I will keep appreciating how fortunate I and others are to have access to education, and I will make sure my peers and I utilize the tools accessible to them because we are fortunate.

-Chima

Im not gonna be silent about needing help with assignments.

-Kai

The language at the Memorial and the Legacy Center was very direct, and I think that this is a way to not be silent. These places named domestic terrorism and referred to the great migration as refugees fleeing terrorism and trauma among other intentional choices of language. I think a way that I can can be more forceful with my voice is by adopting a more truthful and direct set of language about the parts of American history and present that many people would like to forget or pretend don't exist. That includes discussions of slavery, terrorization in and after reconstruction, Jim Crow, and mass incarceration. I won't ever be able to speak in a way that captures the pain of people in these times and systems, but I can at least begin to address and honor it.

-Isabel

One thing I won't be silent about anymore is deportation, and the separation of families.

-Val

Meeting with co-founder and former director of the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, Alabama. 

On Monday, we met Joanne Bland in Selma. By the time she was 11 years old, Ms. Bland had been arrested 13 times for marching. When she was 11, she marched over the Edmund Pettus bridge on “Bloody Sunday,” where she saw her fellow activists being beaten by the police. Her sisters made her march over the bridge again with them, led by Martin Luther King. They again were forced to turn around by the police, but it did not become violent. Listening to Ms. Bland talk about the tear gas and the horses that the police used to attack the peaceful protesters really made me question what I am willing to do for the things that I believe in. After hearing her speak, I also feel very responsible for making sure I always vote (because she risked her life for that right) and for fighting against injustice because I want to be able to talk to the generations that come after me and say that I did what I could do to make the world a place with more justice for them.

-Talia

I won’t be silent in speaking in speaking about the importance of voting. I’m pretty sure it was Talia yesterday who said that before we didn’t know what to say to my peers who claimed that they weren’t going to vote. Now, after hearing Ms. Bland, I understand what people generations before us have gone through in order to give everyone the right to vote, and even now there are thousands of people being suppressed and as a result their votes don’t count. 

-Becky

I will no longer be silent about how hard the people before us fought for our rights to vote.

-Malik

What I won’t be silent about 

I will not be silent about the perpetual urban city violence within black communities in cities like Baltimore, Maryland.

We as a society must expand on the idea of “black lives matter” and live that phrase out within our own communities. We cannot just preach solely about the violence whites put upon blacks and neglect the violence that occurs between us brothers and sisters.

We must implement effective solutions that will prevent and limit the amount of violence within our communities by any means necessary. If we do not do anything we are not better than our current society. 

-Ezra

I’m not really a silent person. I wasn’t sure how to answer this question. When I see things that I don’t agree with I do my best to speak up. I think I will make it a goal to not deter from doing this, but also listen. Just because I believe something is wrong doesn’t mean there isn’t an actual explanation. 

-Ise Sesenaya 

I won’t be silent about mass incarceration, I won’t be silent about the discrepancies between schools. I won’t be silent through actions. I won’t be silent about the fact that 1 in 4 people (I think who are in st Clair but I’m not exactly sure) have life sentences. I’m also going to talk about how lots of things that are going on now are not new, but a continuation of history.

-Ginger

I won’t be silent anymore about the education system. I know of teenagers who do not know of Emmett Till or Medgar Evers. I was very shocked because I was taught about those influential people in the civil rights movement. I believe that it is a very wrong for schools all across the country to not teach about the people who died for the equal rights of African Americans. 

-Aleah

I  will no longer be silent about the right to vote. I learned so much about how the generation that fought for the right to vote, yesterday it was specifically black people, but also women!! and how they feel about those who do not vote because it’s a “chore” or they think “oh the government is corrupt” or “my vote doesn’t make a difference” meanwhile people fought SO hard for the right to vote! We have no right to take that vote for granted. It is the centerpiece of American democracy, and the right to do it was no easy to obtain. I promise to always speak up and encourage those around me to vote.

-Sonee

One thing that I will not be silent about is students bullying other stuff.
  -Zenoya

I will no longer be silent about LGBTQ+ rights and speak up for people being talked about and unite .-Keon