Baltimore Civil Rights Trip
2022
Welcome to the Civil Rights Trip 2022 Blog!
Visit again and read along as students from The Park School of Baltimore, Baltimore City College, and City Neighbors High School write about their Civil Rights Trip experience.
Thank you.MOV
"Walking over this bridge with a diverse group of people made me think about the people who sacrificed their lives in order for this to happen. It made me sad that they couldn’t see us walking arm in arm across the bridge. This was a surreal moment for me. "
"Visiting the Freedom Project was my favorite part of this trip; I was so inspired for their support for one another. In addition, the project’s commitment to prison abolition demonstrated great capacity for love and radical imagination "
DAY 6: Little Rock, AR & Memphis, TN
We had the honor of chatting with Dr. Sybil Jordan Hampton who, among many other of her achievements, was the first African American students to complete 10-12th grades at Little Rock Central High School.
And, in Memphis, we closed our trip at the Lorraine Motel, the site of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assination.
Then, it was off to Beale street to celebrate a successful trip!
DAY 5: Jackson, Money, Sumner & Rosedale, MS
We're thinking about Emmett Till today, as we make our way through the Mississippi delta.
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The courthouse where Emmett Till's murderers were tried and acquitted. (Sumner, MS)
What an honor it was to visit the Rosedale Freedom Project and work with the Fellows there. We learned about their after school projects, their passions, and the schools. Not only did we delight in singing with them, but we also got to celebrate Sarah and Deven's birthday!
Learn more about the Rosedale Freedom Project.
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"When hearing the students speak about their school system, it made me repeatedly say that “i’m so grateful”. It also made me think back on the research i’ve done on systemic racism in educational institutions. The students stating that their teachers and administrators don’t care to not even learning anything in many classes, it hit me so much with pain. When looking at the Baltimore School System, there’s definitely a similarity with the lack of resources and etc. Looking at both of these school systems and others all over the country makes you think of the school to prison pipeline existing in states and specifically in Black African American communities. I want to make sure I advocate for resources being put in these schools, partnering with community organizations, & more."
-Aishyat
After being at Rosedale Freedom Project and hearing about the schools those students attend, thinking back to my school and reflecting on the privilege I have to go to a school like Park, the inequalities in the education system became abundantly clear to me. In poor cities, and most cities generally, there is a lack of funding towards the public schools from the state government, stripping poor students of the education they deserve. The city of Rosedale is a poor community, and according to data that I looked up, 60.9% of Rosedale residents had an income below the poverty level in 2019. This emphasizes the notion that the students of Rosedale are not able to receive an equal education, and that is why RFP is an amazing resource in terms of allowing students the space to find something they love, and acquire knowledge almost to the point of being professionals.
-Julia
Throughout this trip I’ve been reflecting a lot about our school system. Personally, I have had the privilege of being able to attend great schools that are well funded and go above and beyond in resources. Due to this, I’ve always been extremely grateful because I’m aware that the education system throughout Baltimore and the country is often very under resourced. While visiting the Rosedale Freedom Project, we learned a lot about the schools system in the Mississippi Delta. From the description given, most of these schools have almost no funding and seemingly no support system from adults. Not only is lack of resources the issue, but we have also talked a lot about what is taught in classrooms and the methods are approached. Much of the nationwide school system forces what can and cannot be taught, setting a bias and un-thoughtful mindset forth. I have also been thinking about how grateful I am that my school is conversation based. The different methods of teaching have given me a chance to actually understand material and process in a way that is right for me. Many schools do not have this opportunity- failing to recognizing different learning styles and abilities. Our national school system might be one of the scariest flaws, as it’s single job is to educate the next generation. This trip has taught me more about the civil rights movement and enslavement than any school lesson has ever taught me. The amount of information that has been left out, brushed over, or sugar coated in even my progressive school is frightening.
-Lila
No child deserves to be using old books, have teachers who don’t care, or little to none extracurricular activities. Each state needs to hold their schools accountable and fund them because how can future leaders be made when children are dropping out, being shot, selling drugs, or working for less than minimum wage their whole lives? They deserve better.
-Alaurra
I honestly feel hurt by hearing all about their school system. I want to help they out, by getting money raised for them so they can have actually teachers and textbooks/ supplies. It hurts my heart hearing all of the fighting going on in their schools. Also it was very surprising hearing that they don’t have a good school teacher support system. Knowing how loved we are at our school, and knowing how they don’t feel loved makes me feel like I need to do something. I know I’m only 18 but if I can do anything I believe everyone should try. They need the right help with learning or they won’t make it to their ful potential. It’s honestly just not fair… and that’s an understatement. Seeing how loved the kids are by Rosedale Freedom Project gives me hope that they will make great, inspiring, strong, smart people in the future. I can’t put it into words, the fact that their school/ home life is so different than mine makes me really think about how great ful I really am.
Knowing what I know now, makes me think about all the ways I could possibly do to help them. I talked to one of the guys who’s in charge of the foundation for the kids, and I got their information down. So possibly I can either be a host, or come down for some weeks and be with them. Helping teaching them to the best I can, and traveling with them. Because these kids are the sweetest kids on the planet and they deserve the world.
-Sarah
Today in Rosedale, Mississippi I saw evidence of a very broken school system. The type of school the students described attending provides a textbook example of how the school to prison pipeline manifests/unfolds. At home, I have definitely seen a similar focus on punitive justice and policing: police presence; the use of detentions, suspensions, and expulsions; and the occasional use of metal detectors in schools. However, the situation seems ten times worse in Rosedale.
The students described being constantly under surveillance and witnessing in-school arrests. They even told us about the use of paddling as a punishment. In Baltimore, our public schools are severely underfunded. The stark contrast between the wealth of the state and the conditions of many schools in Baltimore makes the lack of support even more poignant. The underfunding of public schools in Baltimore is not just the state’s failing, it is also the result of white flight. As integration began in the 50s, white families fled the city and took their tax dollars with them, leaving the city hollow. Another failing of BCPSS schools is the fact that schools are determined, at least in the youngest grades, by neighborhood. One way to stop the inequities that stem from this zoned system would be to bus kids all over the city, though I don’t think this would not be financially feasible.
(We also just don’t have the infrastructure, the buses.) Another option would be redirect all donations to specific schools to the entire district, to be divided equitably. This still would not account for the time and energy that some parents have the privilege to give to their school communities, which others cannot offer. I’m not sure what the answer is, but solutions are going to require Maryland (and the federal government) to redistribute its wealth and adequately fund city schools, before even more teachers (who are entirely unsupported and underpaid) leave and the system collapses.
-Maxine
DAY 4: Birmingham & Selma, AL
A rainy day in Birmingham. After visting the National Civil Rights Institute and the 16st Street Baptist Church, we had lunch with some very special guests. We listened as Journalist Sherrel Stewart had conversed with Richard Finley, who participated in the Birmingham Children's March in 1963, and Kim McNair Brock, whose sister Denise McNair, died in the Birmingham Church Bombing.
Sherrel Stewart (left) with CRT participant Zy'Qwuan
Kim McNair Brock (left) with CRT participant Sarah
Richard Finley (left) with CRT participant MJ
We made it to Selma just as the sun was going down and followed in the footsteps of the brave activists who walked over the Edmund Pettis Bridge on Bloody Sunday.
DAY 3: MONTGOMERY, AL
The Legacy Museum and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice are usually closed on Mondays, but they were kind enough to open up for us today. Bryan Stevenson's Equal Justice Intiative showed us the connection between slavery and mass incarceration.
The streets of Montgomery teem with history, and we tried to see it all--the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the Rosa Parks Museum, the memorial at the Southern Poverty Law Center. We walked all over the city on this sunny, 80 degree day and took time to remember that 54 years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King was assissinated. We spent the day ensuring that his work and his memory live on.
Kaisha and Kelby.movAlden and Cam.movIMG_5877.movSarah and Darryl.movIMG_5876.movDaniel and Lorenzo.movIMG_5878.movDamel and Julia.MOVDAY 2: AtLANta, GA
Our day was bookmarked by a Sunday morning service delivered by Reverand and U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock and a late afternoon discussion with Ambassador Andrew Young. How lucky are we to hear the words of these great men in person? In between, we visited the Center for Civil and Human Rights, and we drove through the campuses of Spelman and Moorhouse Colleges.
Ambassador Andrew Young speaking with participants.
Day 1: Greensboro, NC
After a sleepy early morning departure, we arrived in Greensboro, North Carolina, and visited the International Civil Rights Center & Museum before paying honor to the A & T Four on the campus of North Carolina A & T University.
Below, you can read some reflections students wrote about what they saw and heard that the International Civil Rights Center & Museum.
-Kelby
"Something that stunned me that our tour lady say was that she was giving a tour and they was a Mexican kid that his father told him was white. Later on he brought his whole family to the museum because he wanted his family to know the truth. His father said that he told him that because he need to be ( or believe you were) white in order to survive in this country. Something else that was surprising was that a women came up to her and say that her grandfather ( u believe) killed one of the persons that were on the wall. She also said that was trying to change that part of her history. Something I want to learn more is how as a young girl I can make a change in the world no matter how big or small is."
-Daniela
"I would like to learn more about the brotherhood of sleeping car porters, a union who helped to disseminate information about upcoming actions (and just general information) in the civil rights movement. Communication is key to building unity, and so I can’t believe I’ve never heard about them before! The movement and the work was far from glorious, and the labor of common people is often overlooked, I think.
Something that surprised me (at first) was that our tour guide mentioned that many whites-only establishments excluded not just Black and brown people, but also immigrants of many kinds (Irish and Germans) and Jewish people. I think this surprised me because whiteness is a social construct (WITH real consequences and privileges attached, however) rather than a material reality. It’s not just about skin color, whiteness shifts in order to uphold the power of the few. For example, people who may have had distinct cultural identities before coming to the U.S. often gave those up in part (if possible) in order to become white. Whiteness is constructed in order to justify Black subjugation, and to gain the safety that white supremacy claims to provide. So, it surprised me that things could also go the other way, that immigrants and people of non-Christian religions could be classified as non-white. I wonder if this created unity between all the different people who were classified as 'colored' or not."
-Maxine
"One thing that shocked me/something new:
I was shocked to learn that the majority of sundown towns were in Midwest and the KKK was particularly rampent and violent in the region. I had always assumed this was concentrated in the South but hate knows no borders, and without Jim Crow another method of otherism and terror was put in place.
One thing want to know more about:
The idea of segregation and race intersecting with the idea of a poverty tax. I knew they were- fundamentally linked due to the social systems of our nation, but I wasn’t aware of the blatancy and the origins in the Jim Crow south as we saw by the difference in prices of Coca Cola from the same machine. I would love to learn more about this."
-Deven
"Coming onto this trip I knew what we learned in school, but not the real raw truth. I don’t usually like taking notes but when we go started on our tour, I was actually interested in writing everything I could down. The start of the tour was hard, we saw very upsetting pictures of woman, men, and children being burned, sprayed with a fire hose, being beaten, and worse. When I saw Emmet Tills picture it hurt my stomach. Seeing how his body looked after he was wrongly kidnapped, beaten, accused made me really think about how colored propel were really treated. He died because a white woman lied about him looking/ catcalling her.
To this day she hasn’t gotten what she deserved even though she finally said she lied about it. Moving on to another exhibit, I learned about how back than 'rape' was when a colored person (male mainly) would even look at a white woman. That to me is so messed up. Knowing what the definition 'rape' is now, and seeing how it was back than just shows how unfair they were treated. I could go on and on about everything we learned about in the museum, because each phrase hit me in a different way. 'Privilege isn’t a bad thing, it’s what you choose to do with it'. Also, 'those who’s lives were lost, aren’t lost in vain."
-Sarah
"The tour guide showed us a photo of a KKK cross burning and asked us where and when we thought it took place. All of us said Deep South during early/mid 1900s. I was shocked when she said it was in Connecticut in 1986 because I have always perceived the KKK as being confined to the Jim Crow south.
I want to learn more about the systems put into place after reconstruction to almost immediately cease all elections of Black public officials in the South."
-Cam
"As a pop culture fan one thing that stopped me in my tracks had to be the black face era and entertainment at the time. Knowing that it has been going on for such a long time but isn’t as aggressive now is very crazy to me because black people are made fun of then profited off of. The performers were treated poorly as well and treated like animals with no respect. One thing I want to know more about is the Antebellum era because I didn’t even know that was a thing until today and I just want to do research on it."
-Damel
"Two things that stunned me were the names of the people that most people wouldn't know about. The sad people that had their lives taken for doing good. Along with the little picture wall with the empty spaces for the future to fill themselves.
One thing I would like to know that I don't already know is to learn about someone that I don't know about. Whether it was a "small" or much larger contribution to the greater good of the Civil Rights Movement."
-Jaylen
"What stopped me in my tracks was when [our tour guide] said that hate got to him before love did. She was talking about this young boy who drove his car in to a crowd of protesters. He took the life of a young woman and his self."
-Luca
Pre-trip Preparation
The week before our departure, participants attended an overnight activity aimed at having students from the three schools get to know each other better, set community norms, and consider the journey that lies ahead.
After the trip was postoned in January due to COVID concerns, we are excited to finally be able to hit the road.