A Real Lunch Counter Experience

-
Today, after an early morning church service and exploring Martin Luther King Junior’s home, tombstone, and former church, we visited the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Downtown Atlanta. The museum featured a simulation of the lunch counter at Woolworth’s, where many fought for the integration of public spaces. The simulation had you sit at a lunch counter, put on headphones, close your eyes and place both palms flat on the counter to see how long you’d be able to endure tormenting from agitators. In your ears were racist shouts and taunts, and even threats of murder. It was an intense experience, one that was quite jarring. Even as a person who doesn’t startle easily, it was hard for me to stay calm. The simulation really put me in the shoes of a protester during the Civi Rights Movement, which is important. The best way to help someone understand your struggles is to have them go through what you did, something that the simulation did quite well.

 -Cici
Park School of Baltimore

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Wrap

-
Image
How do I wrap this trip up? Even on the 13-hour bus ride I was still thinking about everything and challenging myself in new ways. This brought the movement alive for me and made it real in the present day. I learned so much and formed so many ideas I’d never realized I could have. I don’t think this will ever leave me and I definitely hope, like the civil rights movement, it won’t end with this first phase, but will keep going. I’m looking forward to implementing all our ideas at Park (look out everyone) and in our broader communities (National Youth March here we come!) I’m going to keep pushing myself.  The changes I want to see in the world begin with me and I WILL make them. I hope the connections I made on this trip last and grow even stronger. I know I will forever be grateful to the many people who gave me this opportunity. To the chaperones: thank you, thank you, thank you! To the 31 other kids who made this so special, I seriously love you all and you give me hope fo...
Read more

The Movement That Never Ended

-
I was too exhausted to complete my last blog post yesterday, so here I am finishing it now. I do not think that's necessarily a bad thing, though, because now I am in the early stages of processing everything. I think that it is easy to become swayed by events, and the things that we learn from ourselves by reflecting immediately are essential, but I also believe that the things we take away a couple of days later are just as important. So, where do I stand? What am I thinking? For one, I am honestly astounded by how close this group became throughout the week. I've gone to the same school for my entire life and for that reason, I think, I have come to understand that you can only build relationships through time and similarities. Coming into this trip, I don't think I believed we had the potential to bond as much as we did. I don't think I believed this because of any prejudices I had; no, I think I believed it solely because of the homogenous understanding I have...
Read more

The First Time I Cried in 10 Years

-
Today, today, today. Today was the first time I cried  in 10 years   because of the hurt that I felt looking at the statues and monuments in Kelly Ingram Park. The statues show the hurt that the people in our history have been through,  but also how they used there hurt as power to stand up for themselves. There's a lot that still needs to be published and be counted as history. Roscoe Jones taught me something important.  He was apart of the movement, but was not acknowledged and he didn't want money, or fame. He fought for equality not integration, and today we still are not equal. Fight for your rights, stand up for yourself and others. -Coleman
Read more