Students journey to Alabama to check civil rights historical past

While many highschool college students spent their latest spring break on the seashores or theme parks, 20 Sarasota and Manatee highschool college students traveled to Alabama.

Their journey was the end result of a six-month lengthy program in civil rights training.

WUSF’s Cathy Carter spoke with Ambar Galva Perez and Lubens Pierre, two of the scholars within the ‘Bending the Arc’ program.

Ambar, your group visited 21 historic websites from Montgomery, to Selma and Birmingham. Tell us a bit of bit about what you skilled on the journey.

I might say that probably the most impactful issues that I’ve realized and seen was on the Equal Justice Initiative websites. At one of many memorials, they confirmed coffins that have been speculated to characterize those that have been victims of lynching, and we additionally went to the Freedom Sculpture Park. When I noticed the statues of slaves, I felt like they have been actually trying into me. You know, that I used to be being held to an expectation. OK, I’m studying all of this. What am I going to do with it?

How about you, Lubens, now that you’ve got been house a few weeks, what has stayed with you about your journey to Alabama?

At this one museum, I believe it was known as the EJI legacy Museum, one of many scenes was a form of slave encampment the place all the slaves have been holograms. One of those captured slaves was singing about how she did not wish to dwell. It type of resonated with me on how horrible the state of affairs was for them. And they’d like a mannequin practice, the place they have been taking part in a video of how the slaves could be rounded up and put within practice vehicles. It type of felt like sitting within it and seeing how cramped it was. It type of baffled me on how some individuals could possibly be so merciless to only shove a bunch of individuals within only a tiny area, like attempting to suit 15 individuals inside a closet.

And not solely did you go to historic websites, you really met some individuals who have been concerned in civil rights, and so they invited you into their houses. Tell us about that.

Yes, one of many homes belonged to Miss Barbara Shores. She spoke to us about her father, Arthur Shores. He was an lawyer that helped out within the civil rights motion, and she or he spoke to us about how her home was bombed by the KKK, and in addition about her father’s achievements and the way a lot he needed to sacrifice, which was the protection of his household for this motion.

Lubens, I perceive your immersion program ends with a capstone venture. Tell us about yours.

It’s type of like how you’ll use these two AI voices, one representing the people who find themselves asking questions, and the opposite representing, nicely — on this case of me — who’s going to be answering stated questions and diving deeper. I’m going to be exhibiting clips of sure areas that I took pictures of and movies of, and it is primarily going to be me explaining the historical past behind it. My favourite one could be, like, why did you simply take an image of this random tree? And it should be the yellow magnolia tree, which, after I appeared it up, meant a logo of recent beginnings.

You’re each younger, sophomores in highschool. Some of the progress made within the civil rights motion a few generations again are actually, some would say, eroding. Ambar, how do you see your technology in selecting up the mantle for civil rights development?

I might say that on social media, I see that individuals are going to protests and they’re talking out concerning the conditions which can be happening right here within the United States. But generally I really feel like after I cease my display, and after I discuss to different college students at my college, I believe that Bending the Arc actually helped me regain some religion. I do not assume it is good to be so pessimistic, and I wish to be that individual that leads, that does one thing that provides different college students motivation to make change.

Bending the Arc: A Student Celebration takes place Sunday at 3 p.m. at Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota.