Atlanta - Coming Full Circle

On to the final city of this crazy whirlwind civil rights road trip!  In Atlanta, it felt as if I'd come full circle - from the place where Dr. Martin Luther King died, to the place where he was born, and the life of the leader of an incredible movement began.  In Atlanta, I saw Dr. King's childhood home and neighborhood, visited his crypt, and spent a morning at the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Pemberton Place.

The neighborhood where Dr. King was born and once lived is known as Sweet Auburn.  All along Auburn avenue, homes, churches, businesses and clubs once formed a lively and thriving black community.  Among the history alive on Auburn avenue stands Ebenezer Baptist, the church where "Daddy" King pastored, and where Dr. King and his father shared a pulpit for many years.  Not far away is the firehouse where a young MLK used to watch fire trucks speed away, decades before Atlanta would employ black firefighters.  Walking just one more block brought me to the home where Dr. King was born and spent his growing up years.  Here, I toured the home with a small group of visitors, led by a US National Park Ranger.  I was once again reminded that this incredible leader was once just a brilliant yet mischievous child, avoiding doing the dishes at all costs, and sharing the messiest room in the house with his brother A.D.  The King home is lovely, built near the end of the 19th century and restored to look as it did in the days that they lived there.  Imagine well worn wood floors, high ceilings, and a dining room table where the family shared meals, bible verses, and discussions on the injustices of 20th century America.  It was a neat experience to be there.

Not more than a few blocks away is a center founded by Coretta Scott King in Dr. King's honor, and the reflecting pool where their crypts stand as monuments to incredible lives well lived.  Standing in the courtyard, I gazed at the eternal flame commemorating Dr. King's life and his commitment in eternal truth, and heard his voice booming over speakers.  Dr. King's voice inspired me as I thought about all that he, and the movement he headed, accomplished.  

Along with exploring Sweet Auburn, I spent time some of my time in Atlanta at the brand new Center for Civil and Human Rights in Pemberton Place.  This is an impressive center housing a exhibit of many of Dr. King's personal artifacts, along with two exceptional galleries - one tracing the Civil Rights Movement, the other exploring current human rights issues around the world.

The gallery on the Civil Rights movement was wonderful.  The movement was well summarized and represented, and shared in meaningful, emotional ways.  In one room, while watching Dr. King's speech at the March on Washington, visitors can grab a Kleenex from a nearby box if they are moved to tears (and many, many are!)  I sat near a woman who had been at the March, sharing with those around her that "that was exactly what he said!"  While watching the footage of Dr. King's funeral in a later gallery, I was moved hearing pieces of his "Mountaintop" speech and the directions he shared during a speech for what he would hoped to be said about him when his day came.  An elderly woman sat in tears near me as we watched the funeral processional on a screen.  She kept shaking her head an lamenting, "He didn't do nothing wrong....and they just went and killed him....He didn't do nothing wrong."  And, in the room where the lunch counter sit ins are explained, I took a turn sitting at a replica lunch counter, headphones pumping hate filled jeers into my ears and my stool shaking with kicks, as the gallery simulated what it felt like to demonstrate nonviolence in a room filled with hate.  Each of these experiences added new, personal dimensions to the movement, and the courage of everyone who played a role in it.  

Moving up a floor, it was poignant to transition from the American Civil Rights movement to other human rights struggles from the past through modern day, from those on American soil to those fought in the global community.  In this gallery, a stark image of oppressors (Hitler, Stalin, and Idi Amin, among others) faces incredible portraits of legendary defenders of human rights - Eleanor Roosevelt, Ghandi, King, Mandela, and others.  This gallery was a fantastic way to bring the themes of the civil rights movement into the future, reminding everyone who sets foot there that the struggle is not over, that advocacy is still needed, that we all have a role to play to ensure justice in the world around us.  

On the first floor of the Center, I was able to see items displayed from Dr. King's personal life - notes, writings, and personal items.  (How cool to see his handwritten notes on the eulogy for the four little girls who died in the 16th Street Baptist Bombing, or the notecards from his dissertation, or even his bottle of toothpaste!)  On the wall were quotes from his writings, speeches, and sermons.  Although I knew this already, I have been again impressed this trip at the beautiful and brilliant speaking and writing style of Dr. King.  This man's vocabulary was endless and his rhetoric was unmatchable.  It feels as if everything he said is quotable!  Here were a few that jumped out to me from the walls of the gallery as I thought about transitioning from my fellowship learning experiences to the school year ahead:

• "I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits."

• "Make a career of humanity.  Commit yourself to the noble struggle of equal rights.  You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in."

• "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere...We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.  Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."

This final quote brings together the entire experience of the learning journey I have been on throughout my fellowship.  Desmond Tutu said that our humanities are bound together, that we can only be human through one another.  The African ideal of Ubuntu emphasizes that a person is a person through other people.  When we see others in our world as "less than," when we fail to act as activists for equality and dignity, we discount the incredible courage of leaders like Dr. King and Nelson Mandela - two of the incredible leaders in whose footsteps I have had the privilege to walk in this summer.  

These experiences leave me inspired and challenged to bring justice to my classroom, my neighborhood, and my world.  I am entering a new school year with renewed passion to engage in dialogue, embrace the responsibility of advocacy, and have the courage and commitment to play my own role in the fight for equity in my school, city, country, and world.

What a journey this has been!  I will keep posting as I finish my fellowship reports draw conclusions and reflections from this experience, and hopefully as I implement the ripples of this experience in my classroom, school, and community.

In the mean time, thank you for being a part of the journey!

~emily~

Steamy Montgomery!

Today I've been exploring the city of Montgomery, and sweating along the way! :-)  It is steamy here in the Deep South!

Montgomery has been an awesome place from which to explore the history of the momentous events that took place there during the 1950's and 1960's.  I have been amazed and inspired by what I've seen over the last couple of days.

I started my visit to Montgomery with a visit to the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Church.  This historic church stands in the shadow of the Capitol of the Confederacy (think on the significance of that for a minute).  A warm woman named Wanda met us for our tour, learning a bit about each of us and graciously welcoming us to this still functioning historic church.  We watched a video on the history of the church, history of Dr. King's involvement there, and its importance in the movement.  In the basement of the church is an incredible mural that traces much of the history and players in the Civil Rights Movement.  Wanda walked us through each part of the mural, and I was thankful to have been able to once again connect this history with the windows I've been given at the museums over the last few days.  Upstairs, visitors can sit in the pews original to the church, and gaze at the pulpit from which Dr. King preached.  Wanda inspired us with her ability continue to spread the messages of the movement, encouraging each of us to realize what brought us here and do what we can to keep making this world a better place.  It was really lovely!

From here, we walked to the Dexter Parsonage, where many Dexter pastors lived throughout the years, including Vernon Johns and Dr. King.  The house has been restored through the gifts and memories of church members to look as close as possible to how it did while the King family lived there.  There is even much of the original furniture, kitchenware, and household items from the King family's time in the home.  Walking through this place, one feels like they are on sacred ground.

A dent in the porch of the parsonage shows the only remaining damage of the bomb that was thrown there while Mrs. King and the baby Yolanda were home.  It was from this porch that Dr. King urged the angry crowd that gathered after the bombing to return peacefully to their home.  It was on this phone that racist threats were made against the lives of Dr. King and his family.  It was in this study that neighbors and passersby heard jazz records playing and saw the light from Dr. King's desk lamp as he worked late into the light.  And, it was in this kitchen that Dr. King had his famous epiphany, hearing God's voice urge him to stand for truth and righteousness, continue the work of the movement, and rest in the faith that God would not leave him alone.  Being in his home and hearing about what brought him to Montgomery, you really realize that Dr. King was, in the beginning, just a pastor who had come to lead a church.  A newlywed to a beautiful young wife, a brand new father of a little girl, pastoring in his first and only full time pastoral role, his commitment to this movement, with no certainty of where it would go or what it might mean for himself and his family, is astounding.

From the parsonage, we made our way to the Capital building, passing by the First White House of the Confederacy on the way.  The confederate flag still flies here, which was a bit jarring for me to see.  As I walked into the capital, I felt like I was walking into the world of Gone with the Wind!  On a self guided walking tour of the capital, you can see the chambers where during reconstruction, many black politicians served and where, years earlier, the men of the confederacy met.  While standing on the steps of the capitol and Dr. King's home and church felt like sacred ground, standing in the capital gave me a sense of eerie discomfort.  I was ready to head back out into the hot Montgomery sun! (And man!  It was hot!!!)

Standing on the steps of the Capital building, visitors can stand in the footsteps of the marchers from Selma to Montgomery, look down Dexter avenue, past the church where Dr. King preached and many meetings took place, and to a fountain that marks the spot where slaves were once bought and sold.  It's both sobering and inspiring to imagine all the things they could say if these streets could talk.

Nearby, a Civil Rights Monument stands in front of the Southern Poverty Law Center.  It's a beautiful monument, a circular black marble fountain with water running over the names of many of the movement's martyrs.  Behind the fountain is a wall with Dr. King's quote from the bible - Until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.  It's beautiful to trace your way around the monument, reflect, and be inspired by the sacrifices made here.

 The last thing I did before leaving Montgomery was visit the Rosa Parks museum at Troy University.  This was another exceptional experience!  Before heading into the main area, I got to take in the artwork of Robert Claibourne Morris in a work entitled "Slavery by Another Name."  It was a beautiful collection that showed the way that even though formal slavery of African Americans may have ended with the emancipation proclamation, informal slavery went on and on.  Powerful imagery!

Then, on to the main exhibit, featuring Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott.  Here, a guide walked us through a retelling and video re-enactment of what happened the day in 1955 when Ms. Parks refused to give up her seat, and the 13 month bus boycott that followed.  I was most amazed by the incredible organization of the black community, the power of grassroots organizing, and the incredible spirit and dignity of Rosa Parks.

According the museum, while black communities had many of their own separate living experiences in the south, they had to ride the buses along with whites.  This led to what many described as the most humiliating form of segregation in the South.  Black bus riders had to not only pay their fare in the front of the bus and move to the back, but actually had to leave the bus to use the back entrance.  Sometimes bus drivers would pull away as soon as they had paid, leaving them out of a ride and the fare they had paid for it.  If they made it on, they would still have to give up their seats to any white man, woman, or child who asked for it.  Not only that, but the lack of courtesy shown by drivers and fellow riders was continually degrading.  Black riders were never referred to as "Sir" or "Ma'am," but as boy, girl, gal or worse.  It is no wonder that this became one of the first fights of the movement.  I was interested to learn that legally, Rosa Parks should not have had to give up her seat.  Yet, she was tried and found guilty, the law thus contradicting itself in this case.  Additionally, it was interesting that the bus boycott did not originally set out to end segregation.  Their demands were only 1) courteous treatment by drivers, 2) first come first serve seating (white from the front, black from the back), and 3) the hiring of black bus drivers for black areas of city.  Yet, as the struggle wore on, it became clear that these goals could be the grounds for an even greater fight for justice - bus desegregation. After 89 arrest warrants came for those involved in the boycott, those 89 leaders dressed in their Sunday best and marched themselves down to the station.  In this way, not only did they demonstrate non-violent direct action, but they claimed their own dignity, putting themselves in the role of protestors and activists, not victims.

Dignity is a theme that has appeared again and again through my summer travels and learning experiences, and my insights at the Rosa Parks museum was no exeption.  I have been reminded again and again that attacking a person's dignity is one of the most certain ways to hurt the spirit.  Whether in the cells of Robben Island, in the pages of "Unbroken" in the POW camps of WWII, or on the bus seats of the Montgomery public transportation system, a person who can maintain and affirm their dignity is a person who can be resilient in the face of incredible circumstances.

Once again, it was so powerful to be in the streets where such incredible events took place.  I am so enjoying this experience of looking back, seeking understanding, in order to move forward into my role as a teacher of diverse students.

Now - to Atlanta, the fourth city and Georgia, the fifth state of this amazing journey!

~emily~

Exploring Birmingham

Today we had the opportunity to explore the city of Birmingham, known as the most segregated city in the South, and once known as "Bombingham" because of the high numbers of race related bombings.  While in Birmingham, I had the chance to visit the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Kelly Ingram Park, and the 16th Street Baptist Church.  I also shared ice cream with an inner city middle school teacher from the Birmingham city district was given tons of qualitative education insight on life and learning here, 50-60 years after the Civil Rights Movement.

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) was a unique museum experience that walked visitors through time periods before, during, and after the Civil Rights Movement.  I gained a lot of knowledge specifically about Birmingham's involvement in the movement, as well as its leaders like Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth.  I was struck by the way that Birmingham really signaled a change in the movement, and the way that the media coverage of the intense brutality helped create a tide of positive pressure from around the country and around the globe.  Kennedy's Civil Rights Act followed shortly the events in Birmingham.  This is yet another significant place, both a haunting reminder of humanity's ability to be cruel, and a triumphant reminder of humanity's ability to rise above, to forgive, to be courageous and enact change.

On the second floor of the museum, one can look across to the 16th St. Baptist Church, where four little girls were killed in a KKK bombing while getting ready for church on Sunday morning.

Out the windows on another side of the building, Kelly Ingram park fills the view.  It was here that thousands of children and young people were involved in the Children's Crusade - marching for their rights, and subsequently, filling the jails.  At one point, 10 children were arrested every minute, and the police had to use school buses to cart away all of the children.  Can you imagine the bravery of the young people (some as young as six!), and the parents of these children?  It is powerful!  It is also in this park that public safety commissioner "Bull" Connors set police dogs and fire hoses on the peacefully protesting young people.

Today, the park is filled with statues and monuments to the movement.  One particularly vivid piece of art has metal dogs "jumping" out at visitors as they walk a path through the center of the artwork.  While we visited, a child and her mother were also working their way through the park.  The mother walked through the channel between the dogs, but the little girl stayed behind, afraid.  When her mother called her to come, she quickly ran through - clearly terrified.  This image will stick with me for a long time - I can only imagine how much more terrifying the real thing must have been, yet I'm awed by the young people who faced it.  As in South Africa, I am amazed by the power of people both young and old!

It was also in Birmingham were Dr. King wrote his famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," in response to the clergy who wrote in the local newspaper that King's actions were unwise and poorly timed.  This is a powerful response, and I loved the experience of having this letter read as I stood outside of a jail cell replica in the museum.  If you haven't read this powerful letter, check it out here.

The start of the BCRI museum, visitors walk through a well done gallery showing the lives of black communities before the civil rights movement.  Though very separate, and inherently less privileged, the gallery showed bits of life in the tight knit black communities of the South.  The gallery ends with  a quote on the wall, explaining how separate never can be equal - as the Brown v. Board of Education case proved in 1954 .  This really struck me as I spoke with the Birmingham teacher who I had the chance to meet with in the afternoon.  Though legalized school segregation was struck down sixty years ago, segregation is still alive and well in Birmingham schools.  Because of neighborhood zoning and the creation of mini districts suburban neighborhoods, schools are hardly integrated.  The teacher with whom I spoke teaches in school made up of almost entirely African American students, with 100% receiving free and reduced lunch, while "over the mountain," diverse schools with higher populations of white and international students are nestled into suburban neighborhoods.  This teacher shared of the many struggles facing the urban school system in Birmingham, from higher class sizes, to inadequate housing, from families with barriers to being involved in school to kids who have many more responsibilities outside of school than their counterparts in suburban areas.  Although she said there is no shortage of "stuff," (technology, furniture, etc), she feels that there is a lack of community involvement.  Though many her students are the grandchildren of the Children's Crusade marchers, this teacher feels that something has been lost in the time since the Civil Rights movement, and many of the teachers at her school actually feel that issues in education may be in poorer shape now than ever.  Clearly, there are many, many struggles that young children in the city of Birmingham still face.

I finished the day with some classic southern BBQ, and I think my hair still smells like ribs! :-)  Although this vegetarian settled on a baked potato the size of my head, those I ate with savored the finger licking good sauces and meats!  Then, off to Montgomery and the next stop on this pilgrimage!

~emily~

Walking in Memphis

I'm sitting in my hotel room in Birmingham, listening to a Blues station on Pandora, and reflecting on the day I've had.  Wow - what a day!  I'm less than 36 hours into my trip and have already learned and experienced so much!!!

I spent a good part of the day at the National Civil Rights Museum.  The Lorraine Hotel, the place where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, has been remodeled into this incredible museum that traces the history of the civil rights movement from slavery to modern civil rights issues.  It easily ranks as one of the best museum experiences I have ever had - incredibly well laid out, incredibly engaging, incredibly powerful!  My research had led me to believe I could experience the museum in about 2 hours, but 4.5 hours later we were still deep in the history of it all!  There was just so much to see!

One of my favorite things about the museum was the way they integrated photos, music, videos, statues, artifacts, and signage.  It was all put together in such a fluid, multidimensional way.  I've truly never seen anything like it.  You could walk through a passage accompanied by the sound of Dr. Kings voice, sit next to a statue of Rosa Parks on a bus as a voice roughly urged you to give up your seat, walk across a structure made to look like the Edmund Pettis bridge, or sing along with a freedom song.  Their were quotes, pictures, voices, stories - a legacy told with the honor it deserves.  It is both horrific and inspiring, troubling and victorious.

The musuem wound its way through the first and second floor of what was once the hotel, eventually making its way into the rooms where Dr. King and his colleagues spent the final hours of his life.  There is also a section in the boarding house across the street, where the shot that took Dr. King's life was fired through a second floor bathroom window.  One can stand in the window and see the balcony where Dr. King was hit.  The reality and gravity of what happened here is overwhelming.  In the building next door, a small exhibit celebrated the lives of 20 African American women, and their influence on civil rights.  This was also very fascinating and inspiring.

Some of my biggest takeaways from the museum experience:

• The discrepancy between historic laws and actual freedoms experienced (Did you know that there was  a voting rights act for African American men in 1870?!)
• The incredible courage of people young and old, wealthy and poor, and the power of grassroots organizing!
• The issues stemming from the Civil War - Issues of states rights, reconstruction, Jim Crow laws, etc.
• The awe inspiring individuals who carried the movement forward, risking everything!
• Nonvoilence
• The power of music - singing in the jails, freedom songs, etc
• One quote in the museum said that the "movement without music would have been like a bird without wings."
• The frighteningly prevalent terrorism and racism by white Americans.
• Parallels with South Africa:
• Birmigham's creation through steel, Johannesburg's creation through gold
• MLK's letter from a Birmingham Jail, Mandela's writings from Robben Island
• Not only voilence, but oppression through denying dignity
• A willingess to sacrifice, die if necessary, for the ideals for which people were fighting
• The power of youth!

I have pages in my notebook filled with people, legal battles, and moments I want to further research, but that's a start to my reflections on my experience at the National Civil Rights museum

In the afternoon, I had the chance to meet with a local educator and talk shop about race and education, comparing the systems and communities where we work and live and sharing about our experiences.  We had a great visit, through once again I'm struck by how complicated these issues are.  I was so thankful for her honesty and willingness to share with me her anecdotal experiences in the Memphis area schools.

At the end of the day, off we headed for Birmingham!  I was struck by the rural areas we drove through - we could go miles and miles without seeing anything but trees!  We also battled a crazy thunderstorm, had a humorously strange encounter at a Subway ($2 veggie subs!), and shared great conversations and reflections on our drive.  Day one and my mind is already racing with what I've seen, learned, felt, and experienced!

Tomorrow I'll be exploring Birmingham!  I'll keep you posted! :-)

~emily~

Welcome to Memphis

Hi Everyone!

I am beyond excited to be embarking on an incredible extension to my Fund for Teachers experience!  Over the next six days, I'll be working my way through four cities in the American South - Memphis, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Atlanta - retracing the footsteps of the American Civil Rights Movement and exploring what connections can be made between experiences in the Southern US and my learnings about race, equity, reconciliation , and education in South Africa.  I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to be able to connect the windows of understanding I've been given between South Africa, the American South, and my own past and future experiences in the Twin Cities.

Yesterday I landed in Memphis, TN! After many delays, frantic runs through airports, and hangry moments, I'm here!  Today I'll be visiting the Lorraine Motel, where the site of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination has been turned into a monument for peace and education, the National Civil Rights museum.  I'll also have the chance this afternoon to meet with a teacher who has worked in both inner city Memphis, and the surrounding areas.  Then, tonight, I'll travel on to Birmingham!

Another adventure - here I come!

~emily~

Pictures

Hey there!

Well, after a month at home I finally have sorted through my 1300 pictures to share about 100 with you!

Check out my flickr album using this link!

Just a few weeks until I head south for part 2 of this amazing experience!  I'll share more as I embark on that experience starting August 17!

~emily~

I'm heading South!

I've been home for a couple weeks now, but thoughts of South Africa, questions lingering, and the significance of all I've learned and experienced are never far from the forefront of my mind.  I'm in the midst of sorting through my photos and will share some here (hopefully) soon!  I'm also working on my post

But....it's not over yet!  After making the final tally of my receipts from South Africa, I had a rather large sum of money remaining from my original grant.  I submitted a secondary proposal to Fund for Teachers to use the remaining money to explore a trip within the US that mirrored the education and social justice experiences I had in South Africa.  So...I am excited to share that in August, I will be extending this trip and my learning with a visit to the Southern US!  I'll be spending seven days between Memphis, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Atlanta.  I have a route planned through many of the US civil rights sights, and am working to make connections with educators and community members along the way.  I hope to see how communities in the US significantly impacted by segregation and injustice are working to engage and educate students, and compare it what what I learned in South Africa, and what I have seen through my own experiences in a diverse school.  I'm extremely excited to compare my learnings in South Africa with those in the South, and bring all of these new experiences and learnings back to my classroom in Minnesota.

Tonight I started re-watching the PBS documentary "Eyes on the Prize" - doing a little refreshing of my own knowledge of the civil rights movement in the US.  It's incredibly powerful, and also haunting, to see a world so similar to what I saw in South Africa, and realize really how close we still are to this troubled past.  I hope to have finished the majority of the series before I head South, and am excited to have that foundation on which to build knowledge and share in conversations.

I plan to continue daily blogging during this extension of my trip, so check back in August to see what I'm up to then!  I can't wait!

More to come....

~emily~