Shake the World

Today, the group ventured to Selma, Alabama to study the events surrounding the 1965 push for voter rights that gained worldwide attention after the February killing of Jimmy Lee Jackson and the March beatings of protesters on their way to Montgomery. A who's who of civil rights activists made appearances throughout those months. But it was the ordinary people willing to attempt extraordinary things that carried forth the vision of the leaders of the movement. Stratford-Richardson counselor, Melissa, explains how this became evident to her today at the National Voting Rights Museum.


from Melissa

"In a gentle way, you can shake the world." -Mahatma Gandhi

My life was changed today in Selma, Alabama. A spark lit, fire ignited. The spark of change. It was like someone unlocked a door and behind it laid my destiny, my purpose. I was honored enough to meet Ms. Ann Pearle Avery who was 18 years old, when she marched on Bloody Sunday. Who was 18 years old and beaten, bloodied, bruised for justice. She was jailed. I was speechless. History had come to life right before my eyes. It breathed and laughed; it held my hand and passed to me the baton of revolution. "How did you do it?" I asked her. "Weren't you afraid?" She smiled and replied, "I was ready . . . ready for change and that, my dear, drove all fear away. There was no time for fear, cuz change was at our front door." She described to me her role in SNCC and told me how she had helped register blacks in Selma's neighboring counties.

I asked her was it worth it. Did she feel that the following generation had proved her efforts. She replied by telling me "Honey, there is still so much to do. If this was my day we would be marching like crazy." And I agree with her. As a teacher, I see the discrepancies in schools and resources. The invisible color lines of Charlotte, NC, the literacy rate of certain neighborhoods, the dropout rates in others. But, I often ask myself the same question that I asked Ms. Avery today. "What do I do? How do I fight?" Ms. Avery responded with an anecdote from her youth. She said that when she was about my age she felt that there was more she could so. So she went to a mentor from SNCC and asked her to help Ms. Avery plan something to evoke change. Ms. Avery said her mentor replied, saying, "I'm not gonna do that; you've gotta do that on your own. Every man has his own fight." This was the same answer that Ms. Avery gave me. She said, "when you think something is wrong, open your mouth and say something; and if you have something that can help someone else, give it to them . . . and organize." She said, "you got a fire in you that the world can't put out. Use that voice. Use it!"

Ms. Avery may not remember my name or my face. She may not even remember saying these words. But my encournter with Ms. An Pearle Avery changed my life and inspired me to say something, give something; and whether its in heart, mind, or body, she inspired me that when I see injustice MARCH LIKE CRAZY!