Civil Rights, Pilgrimage, RatCO & Non-violent protesting
Over winter break I went on a civil rights pilgrimage which is offered at UW- Eau Claire. I heard about the trip from my brother who went on it the previous winter and he strongly encouraged me to go. Not only did I go, but I did it alone and was able to gain so much from the experience.
Myself and one of the original Freedom Riders, Charles Person.
This man encouraged us to get involved in our communities,
to represent something bigger than ourselves,
and to not be afraid to fight for our passions.
A homeless woman I got the chance to photograph
and meet/hug in Birmingham, Alabama outside of 16th St. Baptist Church.
The church was bombed in 1963 due to the violence that
resonated from the Civil Rights Movement-- four girls
died in result from the bombing.
Sleeping on a coach bus and hotel after hotel is not for the faint of heart. It was all worth it though. We followed the path of Martin Luther King Jr. and went to many civil rights museums. We saw where Bloody Sunday went down and also walked across the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama. We met Joanne Bland, a woman who was part of the civil rights movement in Selma. Ms. Bland told us horrific stories of seeing violence in the streets on Bloody Sunday and witnessing it at such a young age--she actually had been to jail about 5 times by the time she was 12 she said. Ms. Bland had been a part of the non-violent protesting going on during the civil rights movement. She is a hero of the movement and many heroes of the movement are forgotten about because their names may have not been in the paper or on the television screens, but it's these people that used non-violent means and were part of the mass that accredited for the elimination of segregation that helped evolve the United States of America in to what it is today. We've come a long way, but by no means are we perfect in equality or justice.
A $40,000 cash reward for a Ku Klux Klan general's
stone head in Selma, AL. The government is predominantly
run by members of the clan, and unfortunately
the town's black citizens are forced
to witness inequality.
I want to focus on non-violent protesting. Modern non-violence protesting (or sometimes referred to as "resistance" and civil disobedience) was popularized by Ghandi, the freedom fighter of India. Ghandi set the stage for many movement leaders to come due to his resilient efforts. Non-violent protesting allows the persons/corporations/institutions/laws/etc. being protested against to rethink their actions/notions/barriers because people protesting are able to come up with creative and innovative methods that try to first recognize them and then create ways to reform them. By using non-violent means, protesters are able to ask for what they want hoping that they receive it without using brute force and violence. In the situation of Bloody Sunday, non-violent protesters were seen to ensue violence upon them from the police in return for their strength, vigilance, and direct action which was seen in Joanne Bland's story. Violent protesting is a thing of the past and has proven faulty in order to accomplish any sort of goal. It makes the protesters look weak, arrogant, and unjust in themselves and organization. I can only hope that non-violence protesting, meditation, civil disobedience, and other forms of direct action and peacemaking can only leak further in to more individuals and more societies...
The church where Martin Luther King and MLK Jr.
preached at as pastors of the Sweet Auburn community.
Pastor F.D. Reese who helped MLK Jr.
set up the march of Bloody Sunday
across Edmund Pettus bridge.
The one, the only...Rosa Parks.
So teaching non-violence may be a way to create self-love and love of others, but also demands what you want and what you need without inflicting any physical harm? Yes.
One part of the trip that really stuck out to me about non-violence protesting was when we visited RatCo (Random Acts of Theater Company). RatCo defines themselves like this,
----"So much more than a community theatre program, Random Acts of Theatre Company (RATCo for short), goes all out to empower young people – no matter their background, economic status, physical ability, race or ethnicity – by teaching teamwork, self-expression, and the value of giving back."
Here's a little more in-depth look at what they do exactly and how they operate: The Freedom Foundation is really a group of remarkable volunteers that are committed to seeing the next generation have a good chance at life. The organization is completely
volunteer-based, and is run by people who want to help develop, educate, train, encourage and assist the next generation. They are old, young, rich, poor, working and retired, but the one thing all volunteers have in common is a heart to serve. It’s pretty amazing how a common cause can bring such diverse people together. Some volunteers give their time on the front lines with the kids at weekly rehearsals, while others support through coordinating events or fundraising activities, and still others donate their professional skills such as marketing or accounting to help keep the organization going. For example, this entire website was made possible through donated time and talent of our volunteers – pretty incredible, huh? There is a place for everyone to serve in the Freedom Foundation – just let us know what your interest is and we’ll find a place for you.
They turned a church building in Selma in to a place for these kids/children/teenagers to express themselves and feel loved. They fed all 90 of us on the trip with a home cooked meal prepared by all volunteers, and then we watched the kids perform a few dances on the stage...break dances as well-- and they killed it! One teenage boy recited a free verse poem/piece of writing that brought tears to my eyes. He spoke of the violence in Selma, the gangs, and that his best friend had died less than a year ago due to the harsh reality of living in Selma. He expressed that RatCo had given him a second chance and gives him the safety and love he so longs for. RatCo has become a home to many and is just one example of a way to teach non-violent ways of expressing oneself through art and dance. RatCo also teaches a non-violent protesting class, which I am hoping to take one day. I think it's so important that we as people realize there are other ways of getting what you want without hurting anybody in the process. Non-violent classes can help boost our creativity and thinking in how we can go about changing a certain problem that is affecting our lives. This could help us in our personal life, relationships, friendships, and so much more.
Non-violence to me is like.......so rad.
I'll end it there.
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http://freedomfoundation.org/
http://uweccivilrightspilgrimage.blogspot.com/
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