During Fall 2001, 15 B-W students studied the Civil Rights Movement while traveling throughout the deep South for 7 weeks. Please read some of our students journal entries below.
Baldwin-Wallace College, Freedom Road Students (Fall 2001) in Selma, Alabama.
Andy Higgins & Tania Rossi
Victoria Gray Adams: Virginia State University
Articulate and charming, Victoria Gray Adams facilitated a dialogue on past and present race relations in America at the University of Virginia State. While our Freedom Trip is coming to a close, former 1960’s U.S. Senate Candidate and activist Victoria Adams was another outstanding speaker. Through lecture, feedback and song Adams gave the B-W Freedom Riders inspiration for social involvement and mobilization. In addition, Adams credits her faith for giving her meaning in her life and the Civil Rights Movement.
As B-W students gathered around in a semi-circle, Adams described her early experiences with what it meant to be black and white. She said that she was with family one time and told her mom, “I wish I was white so I could be rich.” Her mother was left speechless and told young Victoria that her comments were inappropriate. She told the young audience that even at an early age she knew the concept of white privilege. In addition, she told of segregated train stations and of the time a white bus driver slammed the door in her face. “Those were my seeds of activism…. I was angry, humiliated, and upset,” she added. Adams mentioned she used subtle tactics to defy de facto segregation. For instance, “I used complete sentences instead of “Yes, sir or No, ma'am.”
After moving from Detroit, Michigan to Mississippi, Adams began more active work for the Civil Rights Movement. At first, Adams was hesitant about helping the movement because she was an independent black businesswoman. Yet, she added, “I soon learned it was about making a life not a living.” Compassionately, Adams said black churches gave inspiration to her and the movement. Before long, Adams began seeking blacks to educate and register to vote. As a member of SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), CORE (Congress of Racially Equality), and SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) she educated Mississippi men and women on the importance of literacy. Adams activity in the movement increased and she soon become familiar with Ms. Fanny Lou Hammer (Fanny Lou Hammer grew national attention after attempting to bring black delegates to the 1964 Democratic National Conference).Hammer created the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and Adams soon became a contender for U.S. Senate. While she lost, Adams said she really won. “I learned that you don’t lose fear but you gain courage.”
As the evening ended, Adams spoke on the need for racial healing and equality. She expressed her need for a better democracy and social activism. When I asked Mrs. Adams how she dealt with the verbal abuse and the aggressiveness, she responded, “faith.” Adams then went around the room and asked us to introduce ourselves. She said never say my name is…say I am! In closing, we ended with a few Civil Rights Era songs and ended with her favorite word “Sankofo” --- go out and fetch. Mrs.Victoria Gray Adams was honest and clear: America still needs change.
Taniesha Avery and Maureen Sarver
While in Atlanta, GA, we visited Ebenezer Baptist Church, former church of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The air of eloquence that once flowed from the lips of MLK can still be found in this beautiful sanctuary that holds several hundred African American congregation members. The present minister Joseph Roberts Jr. gave a powerful sermon entitled "Sideswiped By Eternity- Not an Easy Battle." This sermon was an attempt to answer some of the challenging questions that our country faces today. He combined a social gospel with a spiritual renewal that forced a congregation to look deep into their own hearts, to reject hatred and violence and to act as worthy children of God. He used the words of Dwight D. Eisenhower, "Every time we shoot at an enemy, every gun that is made, every battleship that is launched, every rocket that is fired, signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed." In the sermon Pastor Roberts fervently states that: "Unless you are grounded in Jesus you have no defense, He who lives by the sword will die by the sword."
In our studies of the civil rights movement we have learned how many of the participants practiced the principle of nonviolence encouraged by Dr. King, hearing the words in this sermon is evidence of King's lasting effect. The strategy of nonviolence is not a historical concept only to be studied. Our nation and our world must adopt a philosophy of nonviolence and love if we are ever to gain peaceful relations for future generations.
Taniesha Avery and Maureen Sarver
While in Montgomery, Alabama, the “Freedom Roaders” visited the Southern Poverty Law Center. A group of Civil Rights Lawyers found this institution as a center for social progress. Currently a group of professionals, including attorneys, data specialists, educators, etc. work together with a mission of combating hate. Their goal is to create awareness and defense for human rights. The Civil Rights Attorney we spoke with has won huge cases defending groups of people who have been affected by hate groups. The center also provides a Teaching Tolerance magazine that is freely distributed to any and all educators that deals with human rights issues. Information can be found on their Web site, www.tolerance.org. This website also lists other human rights organizations that exist throughout the country. There is even a section where you can take a tolerance test yourself. The busy people at Southern Poverty Law Center also put together a national Intelligence Report that goes out to all Governing and Police officials. This report deals with statistics of hate crimes and other human rights issues. According to the First Amendment, everyone has the right to hate, but not to hurt. So how does one protect and uphold freedom and respect others at the same time? Check out www.tolerance.org for more information about Southern Poverty Law center and Human Rights Organizations throughout the nation. Let Freedom Ring!
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