STUDENTS FROM ALABAMA AND LOUISIANA SPEAK OUT ON CIVIL RIGHTS, POVERTY, AND VIOLENCE

50th Anniversary of the March on Washington

On August 27th hundreds of citizens attended the 2013 Conference on Civil Rights: Marching Forward By Looking Back. The following morning, on August 28, 2013, thousands of citizens, from across this country, converged upon our nation’s capital to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington.

This site provides opportunities for people to share remembrances of and pictures from both marches. Additionally, visitors to this site can get updates on a variety of ongoing civil rights initiatives intended to make Dr. King’s dream a reality.

Thank you for your support!

When Jefferson Davis High School Social Studies teachers Shanesta Pettway and Aisha Taylor reached out to us through www50thanniversarymarchonwashington.com, we got an idea. Why not use modern day technology and facilitate the Alabama students’ virtual participation in the conference by having them participate via the world-wide web? There were two clear reasons to do this. One… Montgomery, Alabama is, arguably, the birth place of the America Civil Rights movement. Second, if we are serious about addressing the needs of our nation, we must encourage the next generation of civil rights leadership. This gave us the idea of inviting additional students to this discussion. However, we didn’t have to look very far. Three students from Tangipahoa Parish in Louisiana (who just finished an “anti-poverty and anti-peonage tour”) will join the students from Montgomery, Alabama in this exciting Student Speak Out. While these Louisiana students will be there with us at the Washington Court Hotel, the students from Jefferson Davis High School will participate (from Montgomery, Alabama) via the internet. Even after their panel discussion is finished, these students will continue to participate in the conference by listening, watching, and interacting with subsequent panelists and conference attendees. This is an exciting way to tap into technology and youth leadership. Special thanks to teachers Ms. Pettway Ms. Taylor; principal Bobby Abrams; former principal Cheryl Fountain; and Ms. Antoinette Harrell for having the vision and inspiration to educate their students (and the rest of us) in this manner.

Jane D.

Will any students from Huntsville, Alabama schools be participating in this panel?
- J Jones
  
  Huntsville City Schools denied the students to participate on the panel, but my parents let my brother go represent Huntsville.
  - Jane D.
    
    That is what I am trying to find out— I got a call tonight from someone who said they went. But this ran in the local media Monday: http://www.waff.com/story/23261544/students-trip-to-dc-cancelled-after-lack-of-funding
    - J Jones
      
      I know the four teens, but only one went to Washington D.C. The teen mentioned in the article is related to me. The school board made a big fuss about the teens. Guess they are stating the trip is not educational.