We had an amazing experience in Birmingham, known as Bombingham during the Civil Rights Movement on account of the numerous bombs that hurt and killed many people and destroyed black homes, businesses, and places of worship. We learned about "Bull" Connor, the Birmingham Police Commissioner who ordered fire hoses and police attack dogs turned on children during their peaceful marches. Most moving, was our visit with Chris McNair, the father of Denise McNair, one of the four little girls killed when a bomb went off at the 16th Street Baptist Church. We had the opportunity to visit the church and reflect in the sanctuary. We cried thinking about these young women who never had the opportunity to live the full lives ahead of them. We watched and discussed the excellent Spike Lee documentary, "Four Little Girls," about this tragic event.
While in Birmingham, we also had the honor of meeting and spending time with Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. "The Rev" was the driving force behind the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, the most violent city in the South. In the words of Historian Horace Huntley, "If not for Fred Shuttlesworth organizing in 1956, Birmingham would not have been ready when Martin Luther King came in 1963" (You might remember that King wrote his famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" while incarcerated in the city). Minnijean Brown Trickey led our group in an awesome lesson about the freedom songs of the Civil Rights Movement while we were in Birmingham. I was SO proud of our talented SJND students who helped with the singing on stage--we certainly have a GREAT group!
Last night, we visited the gravesite of James Chaney, one of the three Civil Rights workers also killed by Klansmen during Freedom Summer, 1964. James' daughter, Angela, who was ten days old when he was murdered, met us and discussed the importance of taking her father's memory and dreams back home with us and making a difference in our schools and community. Our evening ended with a lesson on Fannie Lou Hamer and the vital importance of community organizing and leaderless change. My dear friend and colleague, Sandy Nicholson (who teaches at Jefferson High School in Daly City), and I presented the lesson in hopes that our students realize the valuable contributions of women in the Freedom Struggle and that they return home with a firm resolve to "let their light shine" on issues in their own communities.
We are in Hattiesburg, Mississippi today and are heading out to meet the Dahmer family later this morning. Vernon Dahmer, a prominent black business man, was killed when his home was firebombed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1966.
Our awesome SJND students, Monina, Evander, Matt, and Robin, lead freedom songs with Minnijean Brown Trickey
The crowd singing loudly and proudly!
With my dear students, Crystal, Amber, and Imani, in Birmingham's Kelly Ingram Park
With "new student" and fellow swimmer, Sierra :)
Matt and Monina in front of the 16th Street Baptist Church
With my lovely students, Tiffany and Keyonna!
Robin shares her wise insights about Fred Shuttlesworth in front of his statue
1 comment:
This is awesome.
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