2011-2012!!!

Friday, January 27, 2012 - Letter from K-1 Class (Park School)

Dear Stradine and Park Friends,

We were very glad to receive a letter from you.  We missed you in P.E.  We hope you are having a good time.  As you know, we learned about Dr. King and celebrated his birthday.   Your letter about your visit made us ask more questions.  Some of our questions are:

• We are wondering if Dr. King met god.  
• How old would he be if he were living now?
• Have you learned more about how Dr. King worked with the government to make the world a better place?  We are glad that he wanted to change the world.  
• Could you tell us more about what you have done?  

Have a safe trip back to Park School.  We hope to hear more about your trip when you get back. 

Love,  

The K-1 Class

1/25 Shoshana Davidoff-Gore

Visiting Central High School in Little Rock, AK reminded me a lot of Baltimore City College. At Central High, although the school is fairly evenly split between the blacks and whites, with some other minorities, but in the AP classes all of the kids are mostly white. This means that in a fairly diverse school of over 2500 students, the majority of students at Central do not take advantage of of opportunities to be in the most challenging classes. For a multitude of reasons, AP has become the river or the train tracks that are a racial divide, segregating not just Central, but City too. At City College, which is primarily black, the IB and AP classes are generally evenly split between between blacks and whites, with some other minority students, still disproportionate to the amount of white people at City who make up less than 10% of the school. However, in the college prep classes, there are hardly white people, and there is a clear difference in the expectations between the CP and advanced classes. It seems like in Baltimore faces some of the same problems as in Little Rock, where AP and IB classes act as a racial divide, and create lower expectations for those not in advanced classes. The question is, why exactly do these divides occur? And how can we create an environment where everyone feels comfortable taking advantage of the awesome opportunities to get a more challenging education?

1/24 - Maia Draper-Reich

Segregation isn’t over.  All the work by the activists we are meeting and learning about hasn’t eliminated the problems.  Segregation isn’t gone in the South and it isn’t gone in Baltimore.  Segregation is engrained in daily life in the Mississippi Delta. However, today at the nearly all black Simmons High School in Hollandsdale, Mississippi, I was welcomed. I sat in a circle of plastic chairs in a large classroom with sousaphones hanging on the walls and band uniforms on the floor. If my presence as a white girl in the music classroom affected how the students interacted with each other and the teacher, then I could not tell.  In the conversations I had with the students, I felt that we were no more uncomfortable than is normal for a situation where you are meeting someone new who lives differently from yourself.  We knew little about each other, therefore, perhaps we didn’t ask the questions we were most curious about. These kids are not closed-minded.  They are abiding by the cultural mandates insisted upon by their parents. In Hollandsdale, the division between the races is a drawn by the railroad tracks. In Baltimore, the lines blur more; they can be invisible in places.  How can we build bridges over the racial divides?  How do we continue to repair what has required fixing since our country’s foundation?  In what ways can we take on a problem so huge?

1/23 - Shoshana Davidoff-Gore (Baltimore City College) 

On the bus to Grenada, Mississippi:

I feel happy and jubilant to be on this bus with so many people that can be so excited together. We are learning about so many horrible events, but learning about them together lets me know that we do have the strength to overcome. We have to relive the gruesome and terrifying events of the past, but we also get to harvest the strength and courage and selflessness and strength and love from those before us. So many loud, off key voices should sound dissonant, but crossing the Edmund Pettis Bridge together, there was no doubt that we are united in our din, and ready to begin fighting for something larger than ourselves, no matter how silly, ridiculous, uncomfortable, empowered, or strong it may make us feel. I am really ecstatic to find that I have so much in common with all of you, even though at first I was a little nervous and afraid. But we have learned that fear and struggle don't have to be oppressors, rather they can bring people together, just like us on this hodge podge bus, sharing some goals and hopes and jokes and stories, far more than just a bed or a bus seat.

1/23 - Andrew Bahl - Park School

Today we were fortunate enough to visit the Southern Poverty Law Center.  I felt a connection with what I saw there because of what my Dad’s job.  He’s a Federal Public Defender in Baltimore.  He gives voice to those who, for whatever reason (poor, black, mentally disabled) have none.  Some people have somewhat of a dim view of the defense because they have to reason away sometimes horrible crimes and deny the closure that the public is thirsting for.  But the job is more complex than that.  My Dad has to defend possibly innocent people in a courtroom that does not grant them the perception of “innocent until proven guilty.”  Instead, when we see a black man on trial for drug possession he is instantly thought of as guilty because of racial profiling. 

            The people who died in the Civil Rights Movement didn’t have the benefit of the doubt either.  And the people who killed them were usually not held accountable for their actions.  But a black person could be tried and sentenced for trivial matters.  We would like to think that this period of time has ended.  But then I think back to the black man who will likely be on trial tomorrow, the man who could be innocent.  The drugs could have been planted on him or had his fourth amendment rights violated.  Unfortunately, this message will likely be overridden by his appearance.    

1/23 - Phillip Middleton (Park School)

No one talks, not out of respect but out of fear,

If you go outside you can hear it as it draws near.

So angry, so scary, so fierce, so dangerous,

You know you're supposed to be scared but instead you're anxious.

You can't fight something that moves in such magnitude, in such force,

All you can do is wait and brace yourself for the discourse.

The fear engulfs you, you're even afraid to think,

As the massive power approaches you feel yourself start to shrink.

You want to go face it but are you strong enough?

You don't want to lose your life over trying to be tough.

You get goosebumps at the idea of standing up to it,

Your conscious calls you crazy for considering trying to go through it.

You don't feel brave as you begin to stand

Because you're so scared you feel more like a mouse than like a man.

You were always allowed to leave but as you exit it feels like prison,

Brace yourself for outside that door awaits the devastation, that tornado called racism.

1/22 - Phillip Middleton (Park School) reflection

I spent the day taking so many pictures and recording videos and it
made me think, when you're always behind the camera you're never in
the picture. Its like recording people talk and documenting the
movement with pictures is my way of showing I care but what I should
be doing is showing I care by continuing the movement, by keeping
their work and efforts alive and prospering. The world is still filled
with so much hate and so much inequality and injustice that we are
still obligated to continue the work of the MLK JR.s, the Andrew
Youngs, the Catherine Burks Brookses, it is our obligation to make a
change and finally be in the picture instead of just taking them or
looking at them.

1/21 - Raye Chappell - Park School

Today was a long day. We spent around ten hours on the bus alone! It gave me time to get to know the other students before entering the International Civil Rights Museum's Wall of Shame. They displayed graphic photographs of pure racial hatred during the freedom movement. They were shocking & disgusting but also thought provoking. I found a sense of collective anger towards these people's prejudices and that certainly brought the group together.

But before that, our first stop was Bennett College for Women, an HBCU, to talk to their president. The spirit runs deep in the veins of their headmaster, but also the atmosphere itself. There was a sense of pride in arriving. Maybe it was because of the six hour drive but I think it was because the traditions of young Black Americans were still strong and are still inspiring youth today.

We stopped by A&T (wonderful campus by the way) to see the memorial of the first four young men who sat-in at the lunch bench at Woolrich's. The statute was large and majestic, as we're the boys' actions.

I would like to share a quote from Bennett College's president's assistant to end this post. She said "It only takes one."

1/21-Mei Adams-Baltimore City College

Well, first of all, I'm sort of surprised that we managed to get thirty-one teenagers up before six in the morning on a Saturday, in the snow. And, we all met at City early. I guess that says something about the people that are on this trip with me, we are all genuinely excited to go and learn more about the American Civil Rights Movement. We may have started off early, but that didn't mean that we were going to laze around the rest of the day. We had a very full itinerary planned, and we were going to make the most of it. We started off our day, on the bus... it was a very long bus ride, and felt longer because of the heat, until we got to Bennett College a HBCU for women where the incredible, and funny Dr. Julianne Malveaux spoke to us about Bennett, quoted Beyonce's song "Irreplaceable," and how there are no shortcuts in life. She asked us "What are we going to stand up for" and said "If you have a vision, make it happen." We later went to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, where we split into two groups and took the tour. My group, had a tour guide who actually lived in Baltimore when he was growing up which was a funny coincidence, because we didn't find out until a little over half-way through. We also stopped by NC A&T at the monument for the Greensboro Four and took pictures there.

I think one of the best moments of today was when we were going up the escalator and our guide, Brandon, told us "Guys, just a warning, shit's about to get real." we continued up the escalator and when we saw what awaited us, we had to agree. The lunch counter where the Greensboro Four began their first sit in and where countless others joined them was in front of us. It was like an image literally frozen in the past, except it was all real. That's when I knew that this trip was really going to make a difference in my life and education. I can't wait to see what else this trip will bring for all of us.

1/20 Andrew Bahl- Park School

     After all the fundraising efforts and meetings it's incredible that it's only 7 hours or so before the Civil Rights Trip!  The freezing rain, snow and ice that is about to hit Baltimore will make it all the better to head out and migrate south (if only temporarily).  But the warm weather is far from why we all are going.  Each person has their own reason for going on this trip; mine is multi-faceted.  One reason is the cliche (but true) statement that the Civil Rights Trip will take me beyond what I read in a textbook and bring the civil rights movement alive.  But I feel that in bringing this piece of history alive, the trip will provide guidance.  I want to step off the bus in six days inspired.  I want to carry this inspiration with me.  So often, we look at the world around us, see the problems there and make a halfhearted effort to fix them.  Then we throw up our hands and give up, often times with good reason.  I feel like, with this inspiration, I will go farther than a halfhearted effort and will make progress in the struggle that began with the incredible fight that is the civil rights movement. 

But for now, I know I can speak for the members of the trip in saying that we are all extremely excited for tomorrow to come.  I am thankful for this opportunity and am sure it will be a wonderful experience!

1/20-Emma Koch-Baltimore City College
 

I think I surprised myself when I realized religion was the reason I was going on this trip. Not my religion necessarily, but rather what religion meant, and still means, to the people fighting for Civil Rights. Packing I couldn’t help but think about some of our stereotypes of the south, not just the hordes of Bojangles or tea sweet enough to give you diabetes by looking at it, but the idea that in the south, you can’t drive half a mile without seeing a church. I’ve always been delightfully fascinated by church culture, excepting the times when it promotes intolerance. The thing is, I feel like often it’s glossed over that the Civil Right’s movement was an interfaith movement, and that for its Christian leaders many of the people they were struggling against shared their faith. It makes me wonder what that means for activists of faith today, especially as religion develops an increasingly intolerant, conservative reputation.

I also am ridiculously excited for this trip. I've gotten my big, serious reason for going on it out of the way, and now I just want to write about how I have this stupid grin on my face and can't wait to go on a giant, emotional, road trip and find out if going to a Baptist church is going to be like that scene in Blues Brothers or if biscuits made of 90% butter taste any better when you're talking about civil rights activists and how kick-ass they were with a bunch of people you never would have met except for this trip. I think that alone is a pretty great reason for going, and I have no doubt it will be an incredible ride.