Students! Apply now for 2011 Student Freedom Ride

2011 Student Freedom Ride
American Experience Invites College Students to “Get on the Bus.”  Be one of 40 college students to join original Freedom Ridersin retracing the 1961 Rides.
May 6-16, 2011: Washington, DC to Jackson, MS

Apply now!  Read the New York Times article.

JOIN students from across the country in retracing the route of the 1961 Freedom Rides. Accepted students will participate at no cost to them. All transportation, hotel and food expenses are covered by American Experience.

PARTICIPATE in an intergenerational conversation about civic engagement.  What does it mean today? What has changed since 1961?  What inspires young people to “get on the bus”?

SHARE the journey.  Through live blogging, Twitter, and Facebook, the students on the bus will be able to share their experiences and, in a sense, bring others along on their journey.

Application period is open!
Application deadline: January 17, 2011
Decisions announced: February 2011

The Southern Strategy: Johnson, Nixon, Reagan and today's GOP

 In 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in July...and then made sure the credentials committee in August did not seat the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party instead of the all white MS Democratic Party....  because he was afraid he would lose the South to Goldwater in November.  He lost it anyway, giving rise to the Republicans' Southern Strategy during the next 50 years.


Rachel Maddow has a terrific 15 minute explanation of how the Republicans' Southern Strategy, while acknowledged  by GOP leaders in the recent past, has found new momentum today, without creating any "Macaca Moments!"

Ongoing - Fighting for our Children, Fighting for our Rights

Chicago.Education.NPR

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/21/chicago_parents_occupy_elementary_school_building

Angela Davis and Yuri Kochiyama

From Colorlines  VIDEO

Grab your popcorn, there’s a new documentary out that looks like required viewing. Mountains that Take Wing: Angela Davis & Yuri Kochiyama: A Conversation on Life, Struggles and Liberation is making the rounds on the university and festival circuit, and is not to be missed.  The film captures conversations between the two activists and icons spanning a decade as they talk social change and political struggle, theory and activism and art. The film is a unique opportunity to eavesdrop on two women who’ve been at the center of civil rights, prison abolition and global liberation struggles as they reflect on their lives and the work ahead. A rare and exciting snapshot of living history.

RE: the black musical tradition and its importance

 This is a video about a string band, the Chocolate Drops, who are keeping the knowledge of a black musician alive, and they explain why that is important near the end of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfPpWkKbwsg&feature=related

Did Integration Hurt Black Neighborhoods

Colorlines reports on Eugene Robinson's new book

see also

• Lisa William-White (2006), on why schools based on white-middle class norms undermine black achievement
• Polly Greenberg (1969) on why poor people need to control their own school boards
• Ed Whitfield, Diversity: What Schools Leave Out
• A good film: When We Were Colored also illustrates this.  This film is available to borrow for free from our library.

Many of the Civil Rights veterans during their guest speaking gigs at the SFFS summer program argued that the Southern Freedom Movement was not about integration but against segregation--an interesting distinction to ponder.