Visiting Montgomery

Written by Adam Braunschweig & Stuart Klein

Pictures from the memorial outside the Southern Poverty Law Center

Yesterday we went to the Southern Poverty Law Center. We learned about how different people who have lost their lives in the struggle for civil rights. During the time we spent at the museum we learned about all the different hate groups and the reasons why these people got murdered by them. Some hate groups that we've learned about were the KKK and the Neo-Nazis.

It is important to learn about the civil rights movement because the teachings of hate is still going on today. The reason why it is good to learn about this is to teach people about the rights of others, and no one should be hurt or killed for what they believe in, or what race they are. As Jews we are very close to civil rights since it has affected us for so long. Jews have been victim to discrimination and have been hurt simply for what we believe in. The Southern Poverty Law Center taught us about all the people who have died fighting for civil rights. Their fight has really touched our lives.

Standing up by sitting down: The Rosa Parks Museum

Written by Michael Kotowski and Jeremy Levine

The second day of our journey brought us to the capital of the state of Alabama, Montgomery. This is the city where a woman named Rosa Parks stood up for what she believed in by sitting down. The Rosa Parks museum we went to was built right next to the site where Mrs. Parks rocked the world and brought me to an eerie place I had been to once before. In Montreal I went to a holocaust museum and the cold hard truth in a simple and effective manner was simlar to what this museum was like for me. The inside was adorned with documents and images. Some shocking, some just of the faces of people who got sick and tired of doing what people said they had to do for so long. This place left me with the same eerie effect the museum in Montreal had. One that left me wondering what drives humans to refuse to see each other as equals on our respective journeys through existance.

Civil Rights is still an issue today. Although we have legal stipulations against segregation and other such practices, prejudice, intolerance, and racism are still prevalent in 2010. In the past three years, the number of hate groups in the United States has increased by 35%. It is hard to believe that people in the world still judge people based on the colors of their skin, how they worship, and whom they choose to love. As humans, we have an obligation to defend those who are oppressed. Rosa Parks was able to do it. We need to find ways in our lives to take a stand, through education and advocacy. We can change the world in hundreds of small ways, and we don't even have to stand up.

The Leo Frank Lynching

Written by Jakob Surber

Background: J.tel teens gathered on a sidewalk to hear our tourguide, Billy Planer, explain the story of Leo Frank. We stood in the very spot where Mary Phagan was found murdered. Phagan's murder led to an accusation of a business owner named Leo Frank. Frank was innocent. He was found guilty and eventualy lynched by a group of prominent people from Marietta. Frank's death turned the spotlight on to anti-semitism in the United States.

I found it kind of creepy that we were standing on the burial ground/death site of Mary Phagan. It was very interesting that Leo Frank was completely innocent, but no one bothered listening to the facts. The police took the word of a black janitor over Mr. Frank, a white business owner. This was very rare for the time period. This also makes this case unique.

Eventually, Mr. Frank was taken by the KKK who planned to lynch him. We learned that lynchings become public gatherings. This makes me sad. People even made postcards from lynchings to send to other people! It's very inhumane if you ask me. It was almost as if people celebrated and enjoyed a hanging/lynching. Leo Frank's death became a social gathering. And again I restate, very inhumane.

Dialogue in the Dark

Written by Hayley Wolf and Jamie Rosen

Signing our names at the bottom of the release form for 'Dialog in the Dark' felt as if we were signing our lives away. From our New York homes, we signed the form that would eventually take us on the memorable experience of walking in the shoes of a visually impared induvidual.

Earlier today we were extremely anxious about the "Dialog In The Dark" section of our itinerary. When we arrived to the site in Atlanta, someone explained that it would be pitch black during this experience so we could truly feel what it would be like to be blind. Shaking, we walked into the dark room where we met with our tour guide who has been blind for almost a year. With our walking sticks in hand, we were led through a variety of real life situations in darkness. We experienced what it would be like to go grocery shopping, take a walk in the park, and even order a soda in a jazz lounge.

We thought our eyes would adjust, but to our suprise, we were not even capable of seeing our hands waving in front of our own faces. Not being able to detect where we were, and where we were going was very frustrating. In the end it was worth the trouble in order to understand and face the everyday challenges that visually impared individuals must deal with.

After walking out and adjusting our eyes to the bright light, the value of the hour long tour hit us. We now realize how much we depend on our sight, and that some people have to carry out activities in darkness all the time.

Welcome

We are thrilled to be staffing J.tel's Jewish Civil Rights tour of the South. Over the next few days, students will travel to Atlanta Georgia, and Montgomery and Selma, Alabama to learn about Civil Rights in the United States and Jews involvement in the Movement. The theme of the program is: “Ki Garim Anachnu- For We Were Once Strangers in a Strange Land.” Visits include the site were Leo Frank was lynched, the Rosa Parks Museum, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Freedom Park, and The Civil Rights Institute. We know the teens that participate in this trip will find the experience to be extremely rewarding. Follow this blog to hear their reflections each night!

B'Shalom
Sheila Katz and Alyson Bazeley