In Her Own Words: Learning About the Struggle for Civil Rights

In April 2019, the Workmen’s Circle’s sponsored a trip for teen participants in its social justice program, and their families, to visit sites connected to the American Civil Rights movement in Virginia and Washington, DC. The goal was to educate the students about American history and to inspire them to advocate for equity and social justice in their own lives.

Elsabet Franklin of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a 9th grader at the Institute for Collaborative Education, wrote about her experience.

"Last year, April 2018, I went on a Civil Rights trip to the south with The Workmen's Circle. This year they offered the trip again to Virginia and Washington D.C, and since I loved the other trip I was so excited to go. Going on these trips opens my mind to learn more about America's history and through what I learn, I get a hang of how we are doing today and how history reflects us now. This history also inspires me to open up hard questions and discussions with my peers. I’ve always been big on activism so anything that will strengthen my role in being an activist is great and I will be ready to learn and discuss.

My name is Elsabet Franklin and am in 9th grade at ICE (Institute for Collaborative Education). I am adopted from Ethiopía and I now live in Brooklyn with my mom and my sister. My mom is a founder and principal of The Earth School in the Lower Eastside and my younger sister is in 7th grade at ICE. I have many passions like activism and music. I play the trumpet in my high school jazz band and then I do a lot of my activism through The Lower East Side Girl's Club.

When I was ever taught about the civil rights movement and the people who fought against it, I learned about Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, etc. I never learned about a student named Barbara Johns who lead a protest against the unfair system her all-black school received. This walkout was one of the first student walkouts against school segregation and low treatment of black schools. This civil rights trip, we went to the Moton Museum, the exact spot the walkout took place and we got to hear from two people who were students when the walkout happened. They were achieving their goals to graduate high school but after the protest, the government shut down the public schools for 5 years. Listening to their stories made me so thankful for the education I have but at the same time I was confused. Why haven’t I ever heard of this story and history? Why wasn’t I taught this? Barbara was such a brave and inspiring person and to think that students aren’t taught about the changes other students have made in history is something that should be fixed and talked about.

In 2017, I had heard about the Unite The Right march and knew it was horrible. We went to the places that the march took place and talked about the monuments that are still there today. These huge monuments of confederate generals. Learning that these statues couldn’t be taken down because of the law of not taking down monuments from the war, made me feel mad and annoyed. Maybe the reason why America is so divided and still struggling with huge issues is because of the laws that were placed and not to be changed. It opened my eyes to think about how these laws could be changed and/or fixed."