We had a tremendous first day! After getting to SFO at 3:40 a.m. (thank you to my wonderful husband for driving me and two of my fellow teachers!), we joined up with the other Sojourn to Past students and departed for Atlanta. Our fantastic group leader is Jeff Steinberg, a former A.P. History teacher from the Bay Area. Our trip is the 59th sojourn in the eleven years the organization has been taking students to the South, and we are traveling with students and educators from Santa Monica, New York, Ohio, and all over the Bay Area. We are a diverse group, and I know my students will learn a lot from their fellow travelers in addition to the amazing and inspirational information they will gain from our landmark visits and time with speakers.
Today, we had a fantastic lesson on the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. We spent time analyzing his speech as a primary source, as well as examining the speech given by a then twenty-three year old John Lewis, Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
We are staying near a place called Stone Mountain where a tribute to the Confederate soldiers is carved into the face of the mountain. The soldiers in the carving are Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, a famous Confederate general, and Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate forces. This place is where the Ku Klux Klan held their "rebirth" in 1920 by burning a cross at the top of the mountain. In Dr. King's speech, he says, "Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia;" this is truly hallowed ground. We ended our night at Stone Mountain listening to the "I Have a Dream" speech as it echoed off the "Confederate Mt. Rushmore," an experience none of us will ever forget.
I am so impressed with the insightful contributions my students are making to our discussions, and I am inspired by the way they are critically examining the readings, speeches, and film footage being utilized in our lectures. They are already being transformed!
Carmen and Tiffany at SFO, ready to depart!
Stone Mountain
1 comment:
Mrs. Honey thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed reading about the trip. I became emotional just from the reading and had chills just imagining hearing the I Have A Dream speech echoing off Stone Mountain. I must share this blog with relatives and friends... All I can say is WOW....Looking forward to reading more....Donovan says hi and he loves his sister!!!
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