Teaching our Children

March 03, 2016 • 1 Comment

The South has come a long way... Teach, model and be effectual change

In reflection of Black History Month in February and with the 51st anniversary of Bloody Sunday coming up on March 7th, I wanted to post the dramatic difference of two scenes that took place 50 years apart.

We teach our children more than we know. We have broken down barriers and made great strides. 50 years ago in 1965, as seen in the Spider Martin photograph on top, whites and blacks are in a stand off. And what occured after that is horrific. Fast forward to 2015 - the photograph on the bottom is my daughter, Sadie, who asked if our new friends could walk the Edmund Pettus Bridge with us. Blacks and whites walked together, sang, prayed and celebrated without any racial filters. We were all healing from old wounds and celebrating and taking ownership of our humanity together moving forward into a New South.

As a single mom, I am always trying to teach my daughter right from wrong, to admit my shortcomings, to set a good example and have my words and actions align. That day my daughter stood tall and towered over cowardice, fear, and hatred and beamed with God's light as we walked hand in hand over that bridge singing "We Shall Overcome." Amen.

Keywords: 1965, 50th Anniversary, Barack Obama, Bloody Sunday, Civil Rights, Edmund Pettus Bridge, Freedom, Jubilee, Selma, Stephen Colbert, Voting Rights Act, spider martin, we shall overcome

Comments

Peyton Carmichael(non-registered)

Excellent reflection. The poverty and violence in Selma today, despite all the wonderful togetherness that day, are sickening. I think your photographs can make a difference. Photography is such a powerful art!

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