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A Study Tour of the American Civil Rights Movement for Students in the Excel! Research Scholars Program at The

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A Study Tour of the American Civil Rights Movement for Students in the Excel! Research Scholars Program at The 2014-2015 A study tour of the American Civil Rights Movement for students in the Excel! Research Scholars Program at the University of St. Thomas—Minnesota Students participating in the Journey for Justice Study Tour are Excel! Research Scholars. Excel! Research Scholars Director: Cynthia J. Fraction, M.A. Graduate Assistant: Courtney Crowley Mail: AQU 319 322 Aquinas Hall 2115 Summit Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105 stthomas.edu/excel The Excel! Research Scholars Program is part of the Grants and Research Office. David Steele, Ph.D. Director, Grants and Research Office Publication layout/design: Kristin Walters Photography: Kathryn Hubly (unless otherwise noted) 3 Message from the Excel! Research Scholars Director 4 Key Locations on the study tour 5-6 Reflections from staff on the tour 7-34 Student Research Papers: • Anisa Abdulkadir, “Implications of Legislatively Supported Racial Residential Segregation on Black Housing” • Priscila Barron Sanchez, “Key Legal Cases Surrounding the Civil Rights Movement” • Kamilah Ceaser, “SNCC and its Contributions to the Movement” • Tiana Daniels, “Canton, the Church, and Civil Rights” • Shannon Heitkamp, “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Speeches: A Critical Analysis” • Maxine Johnson, “Diversity in the Movement” • Quinmill Lei, “What They Conveniently Forgot to Teach in History Class” • Raymond Nkwain Kindva, “The Struggle for Racial Equality in Birmingham, Alabama” • Tyler Skluzacek, “Birmingham: Model City or Master of Disguise?” • Alexander Tsadwa, “State and Federal Clashes in the Midst of the Civil Rights Movement” Photo: As part of the Journey for Justice Study Tour, students crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of the “Bloody Sunday” protest Parting Thoughts march in 1965. 35 37 Community Service & Experience Highlights from the 2015 study tour The Civil Rights Movement is an era which represents some of the most turbulent times in America’s history. All American citizens, be them American born or of immigrant status, regardless of race or religion, are inheritors of the outcomes of the significant work, sacrifices made and lives lost behind this Movement. Journey for Justice: A Study of the American Civil Rights Movement is an academic enrichment study tour of the south. This is one of the many learning components of the University of St. Thomas Excel! Research Scholars Program. The Excel! Research Scholars Program is a post-baccalaureate achievement program designed to work with first-generation college students and students underrepresented by race in their graduate disciplines to help them be successfully competitive for graduate school admission and funding. The importance of this trip is to empower students to be informed voices about a Movement that served as the foundation for their overall education and the opportunities they will benefit from once their education is complete. University of St. Thomas Excel! Research Scholars, staff and faculty traveled for approximately 13 days during the month of January to meet foot soldiers, those who were on the front lines of the Movement. We touched the remains of and learned the stories about historic locations such as Bryant’s Grocery Store and the home of Medgar Evers. We enjoyed fellowship in historic churches such as 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL and Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, AL. We marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge after learning and singing freedom songs as we made our way down the infamous Highway 80 to Montgomery, AL. We boarded our bus at the historic Rosa Parks site where she boarded the Montgomery city bus and we freely got off the bus where she was forcefully removed. Our trip was filled with rich scholarship from faculty at Ole Miss, Jackson State University, Tougaloo College, and Alabama State University, along with a host of state-of-the art museums that helped put history into context. The tour afforded Scholars the opportunity to not only learn and enjoy the wealth of such an experience but to also give back just a little from what was given to them. Scholars packed and donated backpacks for three students in Canton, MS comprised of educational materials and gift certificates to Walmart. On the Martin Luther King holiday, also known as A Day of Service, we all participated in community service at the Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham, AL. And, throughout the trip we collected hotel toiletries that were donated to various charities in need throughout the Twin Cities. This Journal represents student research and reflections regarding their experiences from the trip. What we all take away from such a wealth of opportunity is that much was done for us and yet much is left to do. Today we stand on the shoulders of a mighty group of people both from the south and the north who are expecting us to continue the work needed for the equal rights of all people. It is with sincere pleasure that we have such an opportunity and it is my sincere hope that you find this journal as educational and heartwarming as we found our trip to be. In Memphis, students visited the Lorraine Motel, site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968. They also visited the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ, where Dr. King delivered his famed “Mountaintop” speech on the eve of his death. They visited several other sites as well. In Oxford, MS students visited the University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss. Students visited the university’s historic civil rights and slave archives, and stood on the famed steps of the Lyceum while visiting with faculty who were there in the days when James Meredith actually registered for school. The tour made several stops throughout the Mississippi Delta such as Clarksdale where students stood on hallowed ground and learned about Aaron Henry’s Fourth Street Drug Store, which opened in 1950 in Clarksdale and became a hub for political and civil rights planning for three decades. Students also visited Money, MS to physically touch the actual site of the remains of the store that Emmitt Till once visited before his life was taken. Through our partnership with COFO and Jackson State University, students toured and studied multiple locations such as Lynch Street, Farrish Street, the home of Medgar Evers, The Margaret Walker Center, Tougaloo College, and the Smith Robertson Museum. In addition to learning freedom songs, students toured the City of Canton, MS, noting the home of legendary Sr. Thea Bowman and the famed Madison County Courthouse. In the famed historic Canton Freedom House students met with several foot soldiers as well as the honorable Mayor Arnel Bolden, as well as other notable foot soldiers. The tour re-enacted the march from Selma to Montgomery. Students began their visit in Selma, AL at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church. Later, students marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, visiting the numerous memorials of Bloody Sunday. Foot soldier Sam Walker, who participated in the march from Selma to Montgomery, has been our guide for three years, re-enacting the days of Selma’s greatest challenge. Students attended church service at 16th Street Baptist Church and remembered a time when four innocent little girls, former members of this church, painfully lost their lives. In celebration of the MLK holiday the Scholars also had a chance to give back to Birmingham by participating in community service at the Ronald McDonald House. Students walked from their hotel to catch their bus at the famous bus stop where Ms. Rosa Parks caught her bus the day she changed the face of American and segregated transportation. Later, students concluded their journey from Selma to Montgomery by standing at the doors of the Montgomery State Capitol. 4 REFLECTIONS from UST staff on the 2015 tour TERON BUFORD I attended a very Afro-centric school from around me, help foster dialogues around kindergarten through 8th grade. I’d spent uncomfortable subject matter, and the majority of my student life learning create a culture of mutual acceptance about my ancestry, the struggles endured and appreciation at the University of St. by Africans and African-Americans, the Thomas. perseverance they demonstrated during times of hardship, and the resiliency they Since returning from the trip, I have exuded in the face of seemingly hopeless begun a series of dialogues surrounding odds. As can be expected, when presented race and privilege in the office of with the opportunity to accompany the Admissions, am in the process of creating Teron Buford (left) and several Excel! Scholars to the southeast region of a training to address the issue of being other members of the study the United States to research the various an ally, and am working with a group of tour got a picture with Flonzie cities that played major roles in the Civil faculty and staff members to create an Brown Wright after she spoke Rights Movement, I didn’t hesitate to event on campus for prospective students with them in Canton, MS. confirm my spot. As the departure date that promotes dialogue around social neared, however, I became increasingly justice, advocacy, cultural awareness, more anxious about the idea of being and most importantly, inclusion and away from my wife and son for such an acceptance of all people regardless of their extended amount of time. In fact, just backgrounds and/or lived experiences. I a few days before leaving for the trip, I can honestly say that this trip has truly began second-guessing my decision; I even impacted my life greatly and encouraged thought to decline the offer at the last me to continue fighting the good fight. minute. I’m glad that I didn’t. Cynthia Fraction, the coordinator of this tour, used a saying a few times and I’ve Had I decided not to attend this trip I adopted it as my personal mantra: “If would have (quite literally) missed out not me, then who?” I don’t think a better on the opportunity of a lifetime.
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