Georgianna

Someone from American history that I didn’t know about before this trip is Georgianna, a 13 year old slave. I learned about her by reading the ad in the paper put in to sell her at the Legacy museum. The description included: “About 13 years... She is very valuable and desirable... She will make a tall strong woman, smart enough for inside work, and strong enough for the field or road.” And it wasn’t even just Georgianna’s in that section but also her parents. Her dad Old George stayed: “As faithful and honest an Old African as ever lived.” And “His wife Judy- the same sort of character.” 

Reading these descriptions of these enslaved people appalled me. The fact that these people had the audacity to speak about the enslaved people in such a nice and positive manner, and then go on and treat them so horrible is absolutely immoral and wrong.  Also, the fact that the white people kidnapped and took these people from their homelands and forced them to come to America and become enslaved, and then have the audacity to “give them names” and speak about them so highly, but still manage to treat them as not-human is disgusting. 

Old George, Judy, and Georgianna are just 3 of these enslaved people who dealt with these realities. I don’t want to forget about them. And about all of the people, including the ones who barely even got one sentence besides their age which determines “what price they were worth.” The heartbreaking truth, is that this description in the newspapers was the only information about these enslaved people. Once they were sold, it would be very likely if you never heard from them again. I’d love to look more into if there is more information about other enslaved people, not just this description and not necessarily a “famous” or well-known slave, but those who were less known whose lives were equally as important. 

-Taura Zarfeshan 

James Lawson

“We will accept the violence and the hate, absorbing it without returning it.” - James Lawson

During our visit to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, I came across this quote. Little did I know the impact of James Lawson. His name is less recognizable, but he had a hand in most of the major nonviolent protests in the Civil Rights Movement. Lawson studied satyagraha in India,    teachings of Mohandas Gandhi. Lawson brought back these teachings to the US, and eventually came into contact with Dr. King. Lawson’s role became teaching nonviolence to people. Thus his influence in the freedom rides, sit-ins, and other protests is felt through his students, and Lawson did march as well. When we discuss the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, it is important to remember those like James Lawson who dedicated their time to lifting up others into the movement. Organization and education are just as important as leadership in social movements. 

Owen

Brenda Travis

At the Mississippi Civil rights Museum today, I read about a group of students who tried to integrate the McComb bus terminals, including one high schooler named Brenda Travis. She and her peers were arrested at the Greyhound bus station and spent 28 days in jail. When they were released, Travis found out that she  had been expelled from school. The next day, half of her classmates (115 people) walked out of school in an event known as the Burglund School Walkout. Travis was sent back to jail without a trial. The other students protested until forced to go back to school several weeks later, where they laid down their books and returned to the protest. According to mccomblegacies.org, ‘This was the first mass student-led movement in the state of Mississippi.’

Travis was only fifteen years old at the time. I wonder what I would have done in her situation, having to sit in prison for a month. 

Bella

The unknown victims

If I were to choose anyone that was involved in the civil rights movement that should not be forgotten would be all of the unknown victims of lynching. There are so many nameless people that have been killed because of lynching. Just because these people died without having their names documented, it does not mean that these people should be left to be forgotten. These people all lived with different stories, all coming from from different walks of life but they all shared the same fate: they died at the hands of oppressors.

I find it upsetting to know that those unknown people will continue to remain unknown and have been forgotten over the years because those people, died a horrible death too; the only difference between an unknown victim and a documented victim is that the unknown victim doesn’t have a name on record. Even though their name isn’t documented, their death is just as valid as anybody else’s.

I want to take this moment to remember and acknowledge these people because I don’t want them to die forgotten and and vain. The nameless victim is still a victim. With that being said, I would want to learn about all of the people who have been murdered and left to be forgotten because their life matters too. Through this blog post, I want to honor the lives of all the people that died with no name.

Tomas

Celebrating their lives

The Elaine massacres took place from October 1st until the 7th, 1919. The events of terror were organized by white people who believed that the black people of Arkansas were “out to get them”. At the lynching memorial, I saw the Phillips County memoria which showed an entire side covered with names. Towards the middle, was a bolder section that said over a week, over 230 individuals were murdered. 249, to be exact. I choose not just one person, but all those who were massacred on this day. To celebrate their lives properly, and to make sure their lives are known. We can remember these individuals by visiting the lynching memorial, by becoming more educated through literature, and by spreading the word.

Mollie

he really wasn’t worried

i really enjoyed having dinner with roscoe jones, and that’s not just cause i got to have kidney beans & other viable vegan options! what an amazing human being. i mean, there was the surface- he was a civil rights activist supposed to have been in that car with schwerner, chaney, & goodman, but got called to another engagement- but i got so much out of that. i found him incredibly inspiring.

here are a few things he said that really resonated with me.

“ i am a freedom fighter.”

“how many of you know what integrity is? do we have it? well, start having it. it’s a bible. if you don’t have integrity, you have nothing. when i see the lack of integrity...well, let me say this. you should all be fighting to have it.”

“under democracy we have power, contrary to popular belief.”

“the truth will set you free. a lie will go on & on...the truth hurts. a lie doesn’t hurt me. so i keep on marching.”

“i really wasn’t worried about my life.”

“if you see a wrong, you gotta right it.”

“at first i thought... hey! we had overcome!”

“don’t tell me about it. do something about it.”

“you don’t go to school for an education! life gives you an education! you go to school to learn how to learn! that’s my philosophy. in life experience, i’ve earned a doctorate degree. the price was very high. i could’ve died.”

“when you become silent, you lose power. don’t be like everyone else. don’t be scared to stand out, cause everybody is looking for somebody else to make a difference. stop & think. we react instead of thinking. stop regurgitating what you hear & think before you act. think before you do. think before you speak.”

“it’s not about you!”

“we need to look at the bible & see what happens when the israelites left egypt. they didn’t immediately go to the promised land.”

“we need to get back to our obligations.”

enough said, tbh. he was terrific. tremendously engaging guy!

something that struck me was, looking in various museums, that these sentiments of ‘do what needs to be done’ is what motivates  the kkk & all hate groups as well. it’s a common idiom that love & hate are different sides of the same coin, but now i think good & evil are too. i hope this doesn’t come across weird but- i was really inspired by what roscoe said, but sometimes the most inspiring messages of love can be eerily reminiscent of ‘inspirational’ messages of hate. i tried looking into messages of the kkk online that could serve a point of what i meant. “I am opposed to globalism, I am opposed to colonialism, I am opposed to any sort of complusion of one nation over another. (...) I also deeply believe in human rights.” david duke said that one. & the way they recruited people? they told people to do what they knew was right. i don’t know. there might be nothing there at all! there probably isn’t! maybe that’s just the sign of an effective recruitment system. but it still bothered me, those parallels, for reasons i’m not really sure about. i’ve always been hesitant to call someone evil. 

the more time i spend in the south, the more time i realize everyone is everyone. we’re all people. black people, kkk members, we’re all so much the same.

my friends recently told me after i voiced my concerns to him that he thought that we all have latent, dormant hate & love within us, and our cultures bring them out. i think that’s just... so true. so right.

anyway, i loved roscoe’s story & truly took a lot from that. i get more & more conflicted every day.

- naomI

Making use of our time

Someone that I did know some about but not as much as the other two activists we met was Roscoe Jones. I have heard of him before the trip but we didnt really go in depth in class. We should not forget about him because he was my age when that horrible night happened, and he was my age doing things in the movement for him to have freedom, for me to have freedom, and for everyone to have freedom. I’m still in shock that he could've died that night and I don't know how i would feel if that was me. After the incident he didn't really talk about it but after agreeing to an interview he started to talk about it. It made me realize that life is too short to not do something. We have limited time, and we need to make use of it.

Deliana