CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— Extensions of Remarks E523 HON
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð Extensions of Remarks E523 Two weeks later, King led a second march And she knew God was with them, she said. One of those who said she'll join Ronita's that successfully reached Montgomery. He knew what they had been through. effort was LaDreena Maye, an African Amer- Lewis, who suffered a broken skull in the The students heard testimonyÐin the back ican junior whose shyness belies a depth of first march, was asked if he'd ever felt the room of a diner in Selma, in church base- thought and feeling. urge to strike back. ments and in community theaters, and in She wants to be a doctor, and she found in- ``I never had any desire or urge to strike the offices of elected officials in Mont- spiration to push for her goal from those back in any sense. I believe in nonviolence, gomeryÐthat God has played a hand in the with whom the students met. She also not just as a technique, not just as a tactic, civil rights movement, protecting those who learned about those who did nothing while but as a way of life and a way of living,'' he were marching, reassuring, those who were injustices and cruelty were taking place. said. in doubt and bringing light to those who had ``When I see something going on, I'll prob- In the back of the theater sat Darnell Ene, been on the wrong side of the issue. ably want to be more quick to address it his fists clenched as Lewis described the ``In struggle, you need something to be- now, instead of just sitting and letting it Selma beating. lieve, a hope and a faith to believe in,'' said pass by,'' she said. ``It's not right,'' he said later. ``You Katie Gutierrez, a Latina junior and herself ``I guess that now from the tripÐknowing shouldn't do that kind of stuff, and to make a devout Christian. ``With all the hatred, you what we knowÐthat there is a bit of an obli- things worse, (the marchers were) doing it need love somewhere, and God is love.'' gation. I think we should all want to come nonviolently. They had a perfect reason to THE PAST AND THE FUTURE back and educate people about some of the turn violent, but they didn't. That shows On the sixth day of the trip, history teach- things we've learned on the trip. I think signs of strength.'' er Steinberg rose early to appear on a local something needs to be done.'' It's a strength Darnell and his friend Chris TV morning show in Montgomery. He said he DAY 10: Saturday, February 20, Memphis Ramirez, a Latino junior, said they don't hoped the trip would have a meaningful im- have. The buses rolled up to the Lorraine Motel pact on the students. and into a time warp. Darnell said he tries to walk away from ``Maybe they become more compassionate Parked in front were a white Dodge Royal disputes, but he doesn't shrink from physical and tolerant, and maybe they get inspired to with massive, olive-green tail fins and a violence if he's pushed to it. do better in school. * * * I think the kids are ``I don't like backing down,'' Chris said. ``I white Cadillac convertible. going to come back changed people,'' he said. There was a plaque, bearing a quote from can't back down.'' They probably will. But not all of them Genesis: ``Behold, here cometh the dreamer. The most spontaneous outburst by the stu- will. And not all of them will right away. dents came in Selma for a woman who did Near the end of the trip, Monique Jackson, .. Let us slay him and see what becomes of not back down. an African American senior, said she didn't his dreams.'' In the rear room of Lannie's, a locally fa- come back changed, but she came back bet- As the students stood outside the motel, mous diner where the students were served ter informed and touched by the realization Steinberg played an excerpt from King's fried chicken, fried catfish and fried pork that everywhere she went, Martin Luther final speech, delivered with a mystical pas- chops, they met Annie Lee Cooper. King Jr. had been there. sion the night before he was killed. Cooper was a part of a group that in 1964 ``The struggle back then is what led us up ``Like anybody, I would like to live a long tried to enter a local courthouse to register to now. * * * It's not really that bad now. life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not to vote. You can't stop a racist from being a racist, concerned about that now. I just want to do Her path was blocked by Sheriff Jim Clark, so what can you do? In these days, nobody God's will. And He's allowed me to go up the an enthusiastic and violent racist, who goes around hosing people down. Yes, there mountain. And I've looked over. And I've struck her. is still race discrimination, sex discrimina- seen the Promised Land.'' Cooper, no devotee of nonviolence, hit the tion. You just have to deal with it as it The students then took a guided tour of sheriff across the side of the face, and a comes.'' the adjacent National Civil Rights Museum, melee ensured that ended only after Clark In a letter to Ernest Green, one of the Lit- an interactive experience with vivid displays clubbed Cooper on the head with a nightstick tle Rock Nine, Kristin Davis, a white junior, that create a sense of time and place. and two other police officers wrestled her wrote: ``I believe in your philosophy that you It was like watching their trip unfold be- into handcuffs. cannot live in the past. Those experiences fore them on fast-forwardÐexcept that the When the students heard the story, they help shape your future, but you can't let tour ended outside Room 306 of the Lorraine jumped to their feet and applauded at length. them run your life.'' Motel. The applause was led by the otherwise African American junior Aisha The covers of one bed are slightly rumpled. quiet Michael Mosqueda, a Latino junior, Schexnayder wrote to Green: ``I've been A plate of catfish is set on the bed. Cigarette who said later that Cooper was a hero. through a lot in my life, but I can't see my- butts are crushed out in an ashtray. ``She didn't just take it and take it,'' he self going through all of that and still be It was as though Martin Luther King Jr. said. able to crack a smile.'' In a letter to John might step back through the door in just a But for Will Hannan, a white junior, and Lewis, white junior Kristin Agius wrote: moment. for others, the message of nonviolence rang ``Your message has made me rethink my idea Students who had been stoic throughout truest. of what it means to be important and what the trip stared into the room as if stricken. ``You don't need to arm people with weap- it means to make a difference. I've come to Some cried quietly. ons, you need to arm people with a certain the conclusion that a step forward, even a Then, they went to a conference room up- philosophy, and if they really intend to be small step, is better than aspiring for some- stairs and had lunch. warriors in the nonviolent battle, they need thing that will only benefit myself.'' Afterward, they stood, one at a time, and to live nonviolence as a way of life,'' he said. As she contemplated the Montgomery's talked about what the trip meant to them. FAITH Civil Rights Memorial, a setting of granite, Many cried. Some had to leave the room. Everywhere the students went, they went smoothly flowing waters and a roll call of Then they stood together and held hands to church. civil rights martyrs, Clarissa Pritchett, an and sang one chorus of ``We Shall Overcome'' They visited Ebenezer Baptist Church in African American junior, said: ``All the peo- before heading home. Atlanta, where King had been pastor at the ple worked so hard to get us where we are f time of his death; Dexter Avenue Baptist today, and I worry that we're going to leave Church in Montgomery, a stone's throw from it undone.'' INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION the state capitol, where Jefferson Davis was Theresa Calpotura, a junior of Filipino de- sworn in as president of the Confederacy and scent, said she would return from the trip de- TO COMBAT THE CRIME OF where King has his first pastorship; and the termined to overcome her innate shyness INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, and to work on matters of racial and social AND TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS where the four girls were killed. inequality. OF THE VICTIMS In the basement of the church, where the ``You have to start with yourself before girls had been going to Sunday school when you can change anything else, and that's 12 sticks of dynamite exploded, the students what this trip did for me,'' she said. ``You HON. LOUISE M. SLAUGHTER heard from Lola Hendricks. have to know that tolerance is important. OF NEW YORK She had marched in Birmingham, and her It's basically the glue of our society.'' IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 8-year-old daughter spent five days in jail Theresa's close friend, Ronita Jit, a junior during the ``Children's Crusade,'' in which of Indian descent, said she would return de- Tuesday, March 23, 1999 the black youth of Birmingham were sent termined to start an organization on campus Ms.