Courage, kids, and Selma

I'm fascinated by courageous people -- probably because I do not have a courageous bone in my body. I'm a total chicken. I especially don't like to get hurt, so people who are willing to put themselves on the line for something they believe in have my heartfelt admiration. When I've asked people how they found the bravery to do something -- especially if it went on for awhile -- they don't consider themselves courageous. As Lynda Lowery said of being a jailed and beaten young teen during the protests and march for the vote in 1965: "I was not brave. I was not courageous. I was determined. That's how I got to Montgomery."

I was just in Selma for the annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee, along with Vice-President Joe Biden, Representative John Lewis, and some of the determined, courageous people who changed our national voting laws.Which was a crucial part of changing the whole discourse on civil rights in our country.

48 years ago, an amazing group of children and teens showed unbelievable courage. And here they are today, still speaking up. My heros.

Selma Freedom Fighters and Jubilee to Commemorate Voting Rights Act bravery

I've spent an amazing weekend in Selma, Alabama at the Jubilee. 48 years ago,kids and young adults joined the adults in Selma to fight for the right to vote. Lead by Martin Luther King, they pledged to be non-violent. They marched, were jailed, and some were beaten. They stuck to the principles of non-violence. Four years ago for my book I interviewed several of these now-grown Freedom Fighters. I came back this weekend to speak at the National Park Service Interpretive Center and to join in the commemorative march across the Pettus Bridge.

My favorite photo of the weekend: with four who marched as kids: Charles Mauldin, Lynda Lowry, Chief Henry Allen, and Joanne Bland. Honored to be with them!

At the National Park Service Interpretive Center.

The next morning I arrived early at the center, just before a huge swarm of law enforcement officers needed to make sure the area was safe for the Vice President. We were locked into our building, as we were right across the street from the bridge. It was fascinating to watch them. My favorite was the dogs and their trainers. They are the cream of the crop. Most dogs can smell three kinds of explosives: these dogs are trained (and constantly retrained) to sniff out fifteen. They checked and rechecked the area, doing a last sniffing job across every speck of the bridge.

Once the area was cleaned, we were allowed out to stand quietly in front of the building. But before the Vice President and Representative John Lewis came roaring over the bridge towards us in a cavalcade of vehicles with flashing blue and red lights to give their talks, we had to go back inside.
The secret service man (yep, he was wearing a trench coat) let us go upstairs to watch. He had to radio for permission first, and I suppose also to let the snipers on the roof across from us know that the faces suddenly appearing in the deserted upstairs were okay.

Wonderful but too short speeches by Attorney General Eric Holder, Ryan Haygood, John Lewis and Joe Biden. They started up the bridge, and the rest of us were soon allowed to go surging after them.

A moment of prayer on the bridge.

Best shot I couldn't take: we were asked at the prayer to remember those who had fought for justice, now passed away. An impeccably dressed, older man took off his hat and held it to his chest, tears sliding down his cheeks. He was all shades of brown: deep brown hat, mahogany face, tweedy brown suit, and behind him the sun was bursting through the clouds. Such a beautiful moment, but it was his, not mine.

Thanks to Theresa Lorraine Hall, ranger at the National Park Service.

My heartfelt thanks to all who marched to make this country live up to our ideals.

Extraordinary School

 I just had the most amazing school visit at Hamlin School in San Francisco. It's an all girls' school, begun by Sara Dix Hamlin in 1896. The school is in an old mansion full of amazing rooms. That built-in cabinet in the upper left corner of my collage is part of the school secretary's room! Full-on fake bamboo ceiling, too. And the horse? A huge student mural, hanging right in the main hall.

 The Head, Wanda Holland Greene, is incredible. When she was six years old, her father and mother decided she should be one of several children to integrate a school in the New York. Everyday she climbed on a bus and went to an all-white, Jewish neighborhood from her home in Brooklyn. She's energetic, direct, and determined to pass on to the girls the values of being an engaged citizen.

Ms. Greene wanted me to especially talk about Marching for Freedom. Here's what the girls were studying when I came: sixth graders were discussing freedom and personal rights, and the challenges of migrant farm worker families. Seventh grade: social class and identity, and will soon discuss Jim Crow era. Eighth graders: about to do a long unit on race and identity, and look at Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.

These students will have such a rich understanding of history and social justice.

Love Me Do celebrates its 50th birthday!

Okay my friends. Don't worry about your email, feeding the cat, getting to work on time. Take two minutes out for this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEEC-yhr_Ks













50 years ago, on October 5, 1962,  the Beatles released Love Me Do.

Thanks to Lionel Bender for making my day.

Dorothea Lange, National Hispanic Heritage Month

National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 - Oct. 15) comes on us so fast at the beginning of the school year that sometimes it doesn't get much attention. I just found some incredible photographs by Dorothea Lange in the California fields of the migratory Mexican farm workers.

Mexican picking melons in the Imperial Valley, California

 Children of migratory Mexican field workers. The older one helps tie carrots in the field. Coachella Valley, California. Feb. 1937

Migratory Mexican field worker's home on the edge of a frozen pea field. Imperial Valley, California

(If you look closely, you can see a girl peeking out of the doorway.)

Migratory Mexican field worker's home, March, 1937. Dorothea Lange

Lange also photographed workers arriving as part of the Braceros Program. We called them "guest workers," they called themselves enganchados, the "hooked ones." Here's more about the controversial Bracero Program.

First Braceros, 1942. Dorothea Lange

Want to teach your students about what it was like to be a child working alongside your parents in the California fields? Here's a great lesson plan, Children in the Fields:, by Theresa Chaides at Marquez Charter Elementary School.

Your Vote is Precious

I was about twelve when I asked my mother about this mysterious voting thing she did a couple times a year... getting dressed in one of her nice dresses, then walking with my father up to our local grammar school to vote. She told me all about voting, concluding with, "it's both your privilege and your obligation to vote."

Her words came back to me as I worked my book Marching for Freedom, about the Selma to Montgomery march for the vote. I discovered the incredible courage and conviction of the people of Selma who stood up for their right -- and every American's right -- to vote. Below: John Lewis after crossing the Selma bridge.

Both he and Amelia Boynton were at the Democratic Convention. Here's a video of John Lewis's inspiring, impassioned speech.

Amelia Boynton, 101 years old, was in the audience. She was an amazing, unstoppable force for the vote in Selma.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/06/amelia-boynton-robinson-dnc_n_1863273.html
 
And an earlier blog post of mine on crossing the bridge with Amelia Boynton and many others on the night of Obama's election. A true hero of mine.

Woody Guthrie centennial and All Things Considered

Several weeks ago I was asked if I'd like to be interviewed for Woody Guthrie's centennial on All Things Considered on National Public Radio. I am a huge ATC fan, so of course I jumped at the chance. I took BART over to San Francisco and was shepherded into an audio booth at KQED, our local public television and radio station. I watch and listen to a huge range of programs on KQED, so I shouldn't have been surprised, but the studio is big and busy. Lots of people going in and out.

Bradley Klein interviewed me for a half an hour. He was in NYC and I was in SF, and with a techie and a lot of equipment it sounded like he was right next to me. It was fascinating to see what Brad was interested in pursuing. I'm eager to hear the segment and see how he wove together his POV and all the other interviewees.

Check your listings for All Things Considered, July 11, 2012.

Happy centennial Woody. We need your music as much now as we did when you were rambling from California to the New York Island.