-Rachel Cantwell
As we prepared for the day to Montgomery, I was excited to learn more about the topic of my paper. But as we rolled through the streets of the town, a feeling of tension and hopelessness fell upon me. I wasn’t quite sure why I felt it, but the town around me felt dead and as we went a mile out of town, it was the first time I saw poverty like that. I live near Philadelphia, so I’ve seen homeless people on the streets and boarded up buildings. But those buildings aren’t occupied by families, they are abandoned and then people like the homeless or drug addicts inhabit them. But just a mile from the center of Montgomery, were families living in tiny, run-down houses with boarded up windows. It made me feel sick to my stomach.
Then, the next day when we arrived in Selma, although the town had more people, that same feeling of tension and hopelessness was in the air. Later, we would learn that segregation and other social, political and economic tensions still remain. It was like we took a time machine back in to the 50s and 60s. Whites went to private school, blacks to public school. Whites lived on west side of town, and blacks on the east. I was shocked. I knew some people still had the mindset of racism, but I had no idea to what extent.
Now, before you start to think this blog is depressing, there IS a silver lining. Just as I thought society and humans were hopeless, I was introduced to the Freedom Foundation. They are the one speck of light in this dark town. The Freedom Foundation works to bring kids of all ages, races, and religions together and give them a place where they can feel safe and just speak. The foundation even made a step toward integrating the schools by putting an African American girl into kindergarten in a private, all white, school. I can’t even describe the feeling when you walk into their church, it is something you just have to experience, but what I can say is they left me inspired and wanting to make a difference. Now that I am aware of the problems that do exist, I want to be a part of it. I want to make a difference in people’s lives. Whether that be something small like saying hello to someone who seems lonely, or becoming a part of a movement. I actually have an idea ;) (more to come for that one).
As we prepared for the day to Montgomery, I was excited to learn more about the topic of my paper. But as we rolled through the streets of the town, a feeling of tension and hopelessness fell upon me. I wasn’t quite sure why I felt it, but the town around me felt dead and as we went a mile out of town, it was the first time I saw poverty like that. I live near Philadelphia, so I’ve seen homeless people on the streets and boarded up buildings. But those buildings aren’t occupied by families, they are abandoned and then people like the homeless or drug addicts inhabit them. But just a mile from the center of Montgomery, were families living in tiny, run-down houses with boarded up windows. It made me feel sick to my stomach.
Then, the next day when we arrived in Selma, although the town had more people, that same feeling of tension and hopelessness was in the air. Later, we would learn that segregation and other social, political and economic tensions still remain. It was like we took a time machine back in to the 50s and 60s. Whites went to private school, blacks to public school. Whites lived on west side of town, and blacks on the east. I was shocked. I knew some people still had the mindset of racism, but I had no idea to what extent.
Now, before you start to think this blog is depressing, there IS a silver lining. Just as I thought society and humans were hopeless, I was introduced to the Freedom Foundation. They are the one speck of light in this dark town. The Freedom Foundation works to bring kids of all ages, races, and religions together and give them a place where they can feel safe and just speak. The foundation even made a step toward integrating the schools by putting an African American girl into kindergarten in a private, all white, school. I can’t even describe the feeling when you walk into their church, it is something you just have to experience, but what I can say is they left me inspired and wanting to make a difference. Now that I am aware of the problems that do exist, I want to be a part of it. I want to make a difference in people’s lives. Whether that be something small like saying hello to someone who seems lonely, or becoming a part of a movement. I actually have an idea ;) (more to come for that one).