50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
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An official within the National Park Service has just confirmed that the Civil Rights Museum on Wheels (CRMOW) will be a part of the “Freedom Festival” which will take place on the National Mall during the week that our Nation celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the historic March on Washington.
The CRMOW is an authentic 1950s GMC transit bus (actually used during the period of segregation) which has been totally restored and equipped with a state of the art audio/visual system. This on board technology will allow passengers to “get on the bus” and actually hear Rosa Parks talk about what happened on the day she was arrested. Additionally, two drop down DVD screens will allow today’s “freedom riders” to see Doctor King deliver his ” I Have a Dream Speech ” and/or see other video presentations including a award winning video short on the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
JOIN us (and the Civil Rights Museum on Wheels) on August 28, 2013 as we March for Jobs and Justice!
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.
FREEDOM SCHOOL WORKSHOP
“The Freedom School Way”, as they call it, actually got its start in the 1960s as part of the civil rights movement. Today there are approximately 200 Freedom Schools nation-wide run under the guidance and support of the Children’s Defense Fund.
The Freedom School’s curriculum focuses on: parental and community engagement; culturally relevant pedagogy; improving literacy; providing music and art education; and the promotion of positive and productive mentoring relationships between teachers and students.
Most Freedom Schools provide summer and after-school enrichment programming which help children fall in love with reading, increase their self-esteem, and generate more positive attitudes toward learning.
Children are taught using a model curriculum that supports children and families around five essential components: high quality academic enrichment; parent and family involvement; civic engagement and social action; intergenerational leadership development; and nutrition, health and mental health.
Since this conference is all about solutions, attend this workshop so that you can learn how you open a Freedom School in your own community. This workshop will be conducted by leaders of one of the most successful Freedom Schools in our nation. If you believe that education provides the best vehicle to freedom, you won’t want to miss this workshop.
Register for this conference today. Go to the EVENTS tab on this web page. Hurry because available seating is going fast!
The “March for Jobs and Justice” will take place on August 28, 2013.The following is a detailed description of the route (along with photographs of important landmarks along the way) of the August 28, 2013 “March for Jobs and Justice”. The March is about 1.6 miles long. Because there are many variable, we can not tell you how long it will take. We will be led in this historic march by “veterans” of the ’63 march. Ahead of them will be the Civil Rights Museum on Wheels – a fully restored transit bus used during the segregation era.
At 8:00 am marchers will begin assembling at 600 New Jersey Avenue, N.W. We will begin marching at 9:00 am sharp.
We will then proceed toward Louisiana Avenue, N.W. – where we will take a right turn going toward Constitution Avenue, N.W. There we will see the Washington Gas Building on the corner.
At that point we will proceed to the U.S. Department of Labor – which is located at 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W. This will be our first rally point.
We will then pass by the United States Courthouse.
A water station and ambulance service will be located in this area by the Meade memorial.
At the 400/500 block Constitution Avenue N.W. veers off to the left. We will move down Constitution Avenue toward 5th Avenue, N.W.
As we proceed down Constitution Avenue, N.W. we will see the Federal Trade Commission (600 block of Constitution Avenue N.W.) and…
and the Archives of the United States (700/800 block of Constitution Avenue N.W.) to the right.
We will then proceed to the Department of Justice (10th and Constitution Avenue N.W.) where we will have a brief rally.
We will continue to proceed down Constitution Avenue N.W. toward 14th Street N.W. We will then cross Constitution Avenue to proceed down 14th Street. We’ll walk less than a block down 14th where we will see the construction site of the future home of the Museum of African American History. We will then proceed down Madison Street N.W. — making our way toward the Washington Monument.
The Civil Rights Museum on Wheels will proceed to its exhibit location within the National Mall while we shall continue to march toward the Washington Monument…
to the World War II Memorial;
and then on to the Lincoln Memorial where we will wait to hear President Barack Obama speak to the nation from the very spot where Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream Speech 50 years ago on August 28, 1963.
Jean-Claude Brizard, the former Chief Executive of Chicago Public Schools, will round out the panel of experts who have been asked to lead a discussion at Howard University on solutions to the struggles of urban schools. Prior to his appointment in Chicago, Brizard held leadership positions in several large urban Districts – including New York City ( as Regional Superintendent ) and Rochester, New York ( as Superintendent of Schools). While in those leadership positions, Brizard developed a new framework for monitoring and managing data so as to keep children motivated and support staff in their mission to provide the best possible education to their students. For their efforts, Brizard and the students and staff of these urban districts saw record increases in student achievement, graduation rates and on college readiness benchmarks. Indeed, Mr. Brizard’s three decades + experience in urban education uniquely positions him (along with Doctor Perkins and Vice Provost Peters) to lead this important discussion regarding solutions to problems which face urban schools.