December 9th, 2019 — It was a trip to remember, to a place, and a time, our country should never forget.

“I feel angry and sad because some of this stuff I experience.”

Emotional, powerful, and needed.

If you are looking to sum up a trip through the deep south, those three words are a good place to start.

“I feel angry and sad because some of this stuff I experience.”

Last month, the eighth grade class at the Advanced Learning Academy in the SAISD took a field trip to Alabama.

It was history class up close. And what better way, or place to talk about civil rights than in cities like Montgomery, Birmingham and Selma.

“It was a powerful experience. We got to talk to so many individuals who were involved in protests and marches in 50’s and 60’s, so it made it very real for me.”

How could it not? The students to the 16th Street Baptist Church. They sat not the steps of a bombing site where four young girls died in 1963.

“It’s not fair to treat other people wrong because of their race. does it hit home today? (pause) yes.”

They toured the Rosa Parks Library and Museum.

“She’s a hero. She symbolizes how a few individuals can make big change. We show that to students to show them they have power. She is great role model to spark that conversation in our classroom.”

They also visited the Southern Poverty Law Center, where they added their names to the Wall of Tolerance.

A pledge to fight social injustice.

“I always try to take opportunity to get fact that minorities have the same rights as everyone else. I do several things like make this sign which I carried across the Selma bridge.”

Pablo Lara is barely a teenager, but he’s seen enough of life to know there is a time to stand up for your rights. And for others.

That was the message of the sign he made, and carried across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.

“Down here it may be a little hard to read but it lists several offenses that are committed against minorities and tells people not to do things. And then down here it lists several minorities and says we are in this together.”

“Did the trip help? It helped a lot actually. I know other people go through it too, but I’m not the only one.”

“This fight is not over yet. We are still having to stand up for ourselves. There is still discrimination going on. We still have a fight to fight.”

Source: NEWS4SA By: David Chancellor