Terrell Gilkey - Day 4

This was an amazing day on the trip. We visited the National Action Network (NAN) which is a non-profit organization founded and run by Rev. Al Sharpton that hosts a rally every Saturday in Harlem to talk about issues of social injustice. Althought I didn't agree with the message given by NAN's speaker, it was really interesting to know that some people truly feel that way. The speaker stressed black empowerment as a result of the oppression we've faced. His message came off a little extreme to many of us, including myself. Alot of the CL students had a problem with a sense that the speakers were being insensitive to the white students in the audience or from the fact that this message focused on past events and the speaker seemed to be blaming other races for problems plaguing African Americans today.

After NAN, we met with two amazing speakers, Claudette Colvin and Mr. Dabrey Montgomery. Claudette Colvin was wonderful. About six months before Rosa Parks, Claudette refused to give up her seat on a bus. She was 15 years old and completely untrained as a civil rights activist. Her story was one of fear, sadness and wisdom. Her message to us was that we as a people have the potential to be more than musicuans and athletes. She strongly stressed education, understanding and not placing blame, but moving forward.

Finally we met with a former Tuskegee Airman, Mr. Montgomery. He was a remarkable speaker! He talked abotu his contributions to the fight for justice both as a bomber in World War I and as a person who worked to register voters. I wsa amazed at the fact that his unit, the Tuskegee Airman, never lost a single bomber throughout the entire war, no other unit can make that claim. Mr. Montgomery stated that his call to action was a voice in the back of his head that urged him to return to Selma, his home town to work on voter registration. Years earlier he had been denied the right to register though he jumped through all the hoops presented to him. He felt it his duty to rectify this issue and was able to take pride his in part in making registration unbiased. Mr. Montgomery's overall message to us was that voting is one of the ways to secure rights. After all, as he said, "a voteless people, is a hopeless people."

(Jenny's side note):Mr. Montgomery was an Alpha Phi Alpha, as was our very proud trip leader, Matthew. So moved and inspired by his story, Matthew gave his beloved Alpha dog tags to Mr. Montgomery as a thank you. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.