Wendell Berry wrote: “If you don’t know where you are, you don’t know who you are.” A place is as much a community of shared values as it is a physical environment and the Middle School set out to discover how their community is responding to the threat and reality of climate change. The Society Project is the centerpiece of this exploration. For the project, students selected, interviewed and photographed a member of the wider Brattleboro community and created a digital montage. The interview and resulting montage focused on how the individual in both their work and life addresses climate change.
The resulting series of short films reveals a committed, aware, and involved community who care deeply about the future of Brattleboro and the world.
Meet Sheryl Threadgill and other participants of the Voting Rights Movement
in Wilcox County at the historic Antioch Baptist Church.
Shoe Store Museum
Miss Kitty’s Restaurant in Camden for lunch,
Black Belt Treasures, Shoe Store Museum
Conversation with the BAMA Kids
Take the ferry from Camden to Gees Bend
Evening of poetry, song with Ms Afriye We-kandodis
at By the River Center for Humanity
It was great to hear the stories of the foot soldiers and it reminded me so much that the unseen people make the most difference. Not all the famous people control the entire thing. Someone later said “you don’t need a reality tv show, but you can still make change.” Where will I go? Will I be a foot soldier?
-Django
The Shoe Store Museum told a story that I have not yet encountered on this trip. The many quilts, toys, books, dresses, etc. were so present and cared for that I fell in love with the place. It reminded me in many ways of The Bush, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s house in Concord which we visited earlier this year. It is cared for by the ancestor of people recognized, like Betty and her sister’s grandmother who was the president of the Quilting Bee in Gee’s Bend just a few generations ago.
-Hazel
Throughout this trip I have made a change. I feel like I connected to so many people through my questions and comments. I have started to really want to make change.
-Ian
I really enjoyed talking to the BAMA kids because I really haven’t learned first hand how a public school looks like, especially not one that has a majority of black students. They almost seemed unaware of it. I may not really know but my guess is that the schools are basically completely segregated. It really struck me how little history the kids seemed to be learning. I feel that it’s important to know history so that we don’t make the same mistakes again.
-Marian
I was surprised and felt bad that I was learning about their (the BAMA kids) history when we both should be learning about it. Just because I am white means that I get so many opportunities. Is that fair? Do I deserve it more than others? What did I do differently? Why are we treated so different? Who said it was fair that my family went to college and the girl we spoke to has uncle’s who went to jail? These kinds of things change us into who we are so, in the end, I think that’s what divides us.
-Magda
They led us in their 21st Century Leader pledge. This was the time I felt most connected and also very empowered. I also felt I could begin to grasp what impact the BAMA Kids have.
-Solomon
This evening we visited Ms. Afriye We-kandodis and shared our songs, poetry, and speeches. She did a few of her own. Though we didn’t exchange many words with Ms. Afriye, she welcomed us with open arms into her workshop. As she has us recite a vow of self-love, I felt a powerful sense of belonging. That for me was a minute of true happiness. I needed nothing else but to be loved like that everywhere I went. I knew that I needed to love everyone else the same.
-Siri
I don’t want to leave. The sun is warm here. My voice is strong and my eyes have just started opening. How can I leave this behind? I am afraid if it is not stuffed in my face, I will forget these little pieces of understanding. I will forget the things that make me want to be better.
-Annelise
At Camden Antioch Baptist Church with Sheryl Threadgill-Matthews
We are offered stories from people of the Movement
We go to the Shoe Store Museum
Patricia Anderson George leads us through the exhibits
Betty Anderson’s shoe that she wore on the march from Selma to Montgomery
Sage advice
Maple smiles
Lunch at Ms. Kitty’s
Black Belt Treasures art gallery
We have a snack at Wilcox High School
and talk to folks there
Our friend Toni visits
We meet the principle
Eli gives a dynamic version of her speech in the High School cafeteria
as does Siri
We meet with the BAMA kids
Mr. Coleman, an English teacher from the high school, visits
Mr. Coleman recites and extraordinary poem
Farewells to the BAMA kids
We get to ride the ferry across the Alabama River
Today was its first day running in a year
Finn receives a gift!
We say goodbye to our friends in Gee’s Bend
Dallas County
A last look
Home sweet home?
By the River Center for Humanity
Afriye We-kandodis
Ian presents a new song
Ana reads a new poem
James gives his speech again
Julian lets his voice ring out
Rapt
Solomon gives his speech again
as does Roxanne
Ally gives her speech again
Magda recites both her speech and poem
Owen lets his poem find voice in a new venue
Farewells
Spending time with the BAMA Kids
Singing at By the River Center for Humanity
Marian sings her song at By the River Center for Humanity
Day in Montgomery
Legacy Museum
National Memorial for Peace and Justice
Lunch – Filet and Vine
SPLC Memorial
Alabama Statehouse
Equal Justice Initiative
Dinner at Martha’s Place
Retire to 1412 Water Avenue
The Memorial to the Confederacy at the State House was a beautiful place, but thinking of what happened there angered me. So many people with hatred in their hearts stood in the same places as me, but also justice fighters. So I was conflicted.
-Julian
Embarrassed is not probably what most people would feel, but that is how I felt at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. I felt that because I couldn’t help myself from thinking that one of my ancestors might have been there and didn’t put a stop to it. Then I started to wonder, if I was there, would I be too afraid to try to stop it, or how would I even stop it. Talking to Eliot really helped me make the connection that what they want is for these 4000+ people to be remembered. And that is what I can do. -Ally
There were so many names, too many names, and so many monuments. Walking through the monuments at first was easier physically to look at, but as I kept walking, I had to look up. It became more overwhelming by the second. All of these people died hanging, and I was looking at their memory.
-Magda
There were a lot of times today that I felt very sad. I saw the monuments and the names and I feel that now I’ve seen it, it is realer than ever before. How could our country do such devastating actions?
-Roxanne
When we entered [The Legacy Museum] there were a set of videos of people behind bars. What struck me was that at one end there was a women calling for her children, a boy and a girl. At the end of the hall were a girl and a boy, looking for their mama. I wanted so desperately to connect these people.
-Marian
How Dare I
A burgundy casket hung
A life taker forgotten
How dare I stand upon this ground of so many bodies
And breath the breaths of so many sisters
How dare I forget the faceless names
And meaningless faces
Every Martin Johnson
And Lewis Martin
As the metallic tears stream down
Her face
How dare I?
The Equal Justice Initiative’s Lynching Memorial
Memorials to those who were lynched: like tombstones
Slowly rising, until…
We are forced to look up
as if to a body in a tree
Water runs down a wall: tears for unknown victims
Outside monuments lay like caskets awaiting retrieval
Needed physical sustenance
The Civil Right Memorial
Ben gives his speech looking out at the Southern Poverty Law Center
We are invited to the Southern Poverty Law Center
Dr. Martin Luther King’s Church, Dexter Avenue Baptist
The State Capitol of Alabama
The view from where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr spoke after the Selma Montgomery March
Julian gives his speech in the voice of Thurgood Marshall
Ian give his speech
Solomon finds great voice as he gives his speech from the Capitol steps
Aleksa gives her speech
David brought even more voice to his speech from the Capitol steps
Ava gives her speech again
Checking out the view
The controversial memorial to the Confederacy
Oliver gives his speech
Hazel gives her speech
Owen lets Reverend Shuttlesworth’s voice ring out at the Capitol
Solomon recites his poem
The spirit of Ella Baker is released at the Capitol
Eliot from the Equal Justice Initiative engages us in the history of the Lynching Memorial and the work that EJI does
Dinner time
A bit of sun after dinner
What a day
After a day full of essential but difficult experiences we just needed a romp
Church service at Ye Shall Know the Truth Baptist Church
– Reverend Clinton Pettway
Picnic with Mary Lee Bendolph and the folks of Gee’s Bend.
Visit with Charlie Lucas
Retire to 1412 Water Avenue
Breaking down the walls of separation, two communities came together and sang one song. We sang, clapped, cheered, and prayed like we had done it for 100 years.
-Ellie
The service at Ye Shall Know The Truth Baptist Church was beautiful. I really felt the small-town love and history there. I even could feel the Hilltop Middle School’s history there which, though I know that so many other classes have visited Brown Chapel, Kelly Ingram Park, etc., we belonged there.
-Hazel
The picnic was so nice. Being able to go from not knowing anything about each other and no way alike in living to friends in one afternoon is great. It was a nice day to play, chill, and talk and be ourselves. But what you also have to realize, they don’t have it good like us. Although I didn’t play basketball, it seemed like a great way to connect all together. It made me feel a little of what it is like to live in Alabama.
-Owen
At the picnic, all the kids our age and younger were kind, too. It really makes me think of how different our cultures are. I started having a really nice conversation with one of them and they are all just normal kids like us but they all seemed a bit nicer.
-Oliver
I have been to church services before but nothing like this. I was just so amazed how they were so free form and interested in what we wrote and wanted to take the time to listen to us. How all of them hugged us, even though they didn’t know us. I felt really welcomed and comforted. I have never had someone just come up and hug me and say “God Bless.” I felt love that I have never felt before. It was magical.
-Rosalie
I remember a kindness that radiated off of the people. It made me smile. Not an ordinary smile but a smile that was so big, my face couldn’t hold it.
-Annelise
When Kayla, one of the girls closer to our age, was pulling us around and talking about boys, and I was playing “McDonalds” with Lauren, a four year old, I felt race melt away a little bit. She asked me if I wanted to be friends and she was a loud, cute little lady. I hope all those kids grow up to be what they aspire to be.
-Aleksa
Going to Charlie’s was THE BEST THING THAT I’VE DONE IN SO LONG. It’s like my dreams in a shop and a man, to have 10 cars, all fast and exotic, is the best thing I could do. I would LOVE to come down here for the summer and fix up one of those cars. I can’t imagine anything that could top that experience.
-David
Ready for Church
We share songs
Ye Shall Know the Truth Baptist Church
Aleksa give her speech for the congregation
Ally gives her speech for the congregation
Ilona gives her speech
Julian shares his speech with folks fro Gee’s Bend
Marion is called to sing her song – twice
Ianreally finds his voice while sharing his song with the congregation
Breakfast at 1412 Water Avenue Brown Chapel Charlie Lucas’s studio History Maker’s lunch with Lynda Blackmon Lowery Journeys for the Soul with Joanne Bland Dinner at Healing Waters Retreat Center and a visit with Dr. Bernard Lafayette. Retire to 1412 Water Avenue
I thought that the time we had at Brown Chapel was just so amazing. I thought the presentation we got there was so great and although I was filming, I was able to really enjoy the speeches. I thought that some of the best speeches yet were done there. Ana’s especially was so great. To see her get so out of her comfort zone and really transform.
-David
Their voices echoed off the walls as we sat in the pews they once had years ago. Brown Chapel holds the determination of thousands of people inside it. Lynda told her story, recalling that same determination. Her sister, Joanne, made us reach into the pool of thinking and try to grasp concepts of racism. She made me realize things I hadn’t thought of before.
-Aleksa
Ms. Lynda Blackman Lowery’s speech reminded me of Selma, Lord, Selma. The fact that she turned 15 during the march made her story even better because she probably wanted to be with her family on her birthday, but she needed to be there. She needed to march. She needed to make a difference.
-Ava
The talk with Lynda was really fun, moving, and powerful, and I now have her signed book! It’s really cool getting to hear about the same moments from a bunch of different people.
-Oliver
They believe in us. They all believe in us so much. “We are the future.” “We need to bring our planet back.” These words have been resinating in me since our first stop at Bethel Baptist Church. Today we spoke to Joanne Bland. She was determined to make us believe we were worth something and we were the leaders.
-Magda
As I was holding my rock [from Joanne Bland], I started to appreciate how much history was right there in my hand. When I get home, I’m going to find a clear case to put it in, so I can see it every day.
-Marian
It was so amazing and kind of weird to meet a person [Dr. Lafayette] who I had studied so intensely for the past three months. His presence in the room made chills run down my spine, even though he was so kind. I gave my speech for him, and I think it went OK. He gave me hope for the future, and talked about the future of nonviolence and his work. I learned many things I didn’t even know about him. I just feel intoxicated by the time I spent with him.
-Django
A morning romp
Contrast
“The Bridge”
The Sanctuary in Browns Chapel
Our host at Browns Chapel, Mrs. Joyce O’Neal
Sander speaks as Malcom X
Django evokes the voice of Dr. Bernard Lafayette
Ana gives her speech in the voice of John Lewis
Hazel evokes Coretta Scott King
Marian gives her speech in the voice of Amelia Boynton Robinson
Making friends
Browns Chapel
Visiting Charlie Lucas’s studio
Charlie Lucas – Tin Man
Ben has a new design for Boeing
Waiting for lunch
The vibrant and indomitable Lynda Blackmon Lowery
We meet Joanne Bland
Ms.Bland asks some hard questions on the steps of Brown’s Chapel
On the steps of Brown’s Chapel
Lifting up history
Siri hold her own little piece of history
Making friends with maple syrup
The Edmund Pettus Bridge
We cross the bridge
Siri invokes Myles Horton
Ian recites his speech in the voice of W.E.B. DuBois
Roxanne invokes the spirit of Gil Scott-Heron
We meet Ainka Jackson, our Host
Executive Director of The Selma Center for Non-Violence, Truth, and Reconciliation
The creator of many of our fine meals, Callie Greer
Dr. Bernard Lafayette
Mrs. Lafayette
Django gets the thrill of meeting and giving his speech to Dr. Lafayette
Back on Water Street for closing circle
We Cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge
Such a thrill to talk with Dr. Lafayette and so extraordinary to have him lead us in song
Sorry for the delay-Internet has been a little sporadic ….but now in full color!
Breakfast at Hargis Meet with LaQuita Middleton Holmes and Children’s March participants Janice Kelsey at the Bethel Baptist Church Confederate Memorial Park On to Selma Dinner with our hosts – Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation at Healing Waters Retreat Center. Retire to 1412 Water Avenue
Even though we spent much of today in the car, it felt extraordinarily full with extraordinary people and places. The morning at Bethel Baptist Church was impossible to describe. LaQuita’s power and emotion overwhelmed me. I was moved to tears by her poem about lynching and am very grateful that she drove all the way from Texas to be with us.
-Solomon
You could hear her voice before she even appeared. It was a voice saying words that together made something so much more than any reading ever could. She started singing of Emmett Till and lynching. Starting with a poem with so much emotion you need to almost turn away. Within three minutes, she had cried, laughed, yelled, and whispered.
-Ellie
Janice Kelsey came in and talked to us. She had taken part in the Children’s March and shared her experiences with us. She was also funny as heck. I thought it was interesting how she told us that she was just a normal teenager during the movement but had joined and made a huge difference. I wonder how that can happen with climate change and if the youth can really stand up. Will it be the cool thing to do?
-Django
The Confederate Memorial Park was helpful in knowing more about the confederacy and completing the story. It was not too pushy except for the gift shop. Seeing an African American fighting involuntarily with the confederacy was very maddening. He did not look at all happy and he was standing right behind his master.
-Ben
Back to Historic Bethel Baptist
Dr. Martha Bouyer returns to spend more time with us
We help Dr. Bouyer with a poem
We help Dr. Bouyer with a poem
LaQuita Middleton-Holmes: recites her extraordinary poetry
James recites his poem
Janice Kelsea – Participant in the Birmingham Children’s March
Ava recites her speech from the pulpit of Reverend Shuttlesworth
Ilona recites her speech
Siri recites her poem
Owen recites her poem
Elli’s poem fills the church
Aleksa was full of spirit as she deliver her poem
Hazel held us all with her poem, ‘Slap’
Magda’s simple but forceful poem unfolds
Such focus
Ally delivers her poem powerfully
Ben’s poem was strong and falloff voice
Ian sings a beautiful harmony in the song he wrote
Farewells
Exploring Confederate Memorial Park
Confederate Memorial Museum
Walking the grounds of Confederate Memorial Park
SELMA!
Oh yes, Selma
Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation
Our building where we are sleeping on Water St.
Preparing for sleep?
Julian recites his poem at Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation
LaQuita Middleton-Holmes made a very strong impression with her powerful spoken word and sung poems. She travelled 16 hours from Texas to share with us.
Breakfast at Hargis
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
Kelly Ingram Park
Lunch – Zoes Kitchen
16th Street Baptist Church
Joe Minter –“Africa in America”
Dinner at Dreamland
Back to Hargis
After we left Hargis, I though the park (Kelley Ingram) was really interesting. But once we got to the museum (The Civil Rights Institute) I was fascinated. I thought that the imagery was intense, but essential in this study. -Sander
I was especially touched earlier this morning to see a bronze model of Coretta Scott King. Learning about her and reading her writing for the past few months has made me feel close to her and perk up every time I hear her name. They statue made me think of the portrait I made of her, and I was at that moment so proud to have her represented both at the Civil Rights Institute and in Brattleboro.
-Hazel
When I had first learned about the four girls who died at 16th Street Baptist Church, I wasn’t thinking about it too much. But today was the day it struck me; four children where murdered out of cold blood in the basement of the church. They had had friends, friends. And while they were in the basement of 16th Street, the bomb went off, ending their lives.
-James
At first glance, it’s just an old crazy man with a whole bunch of roadside garbage. But a closer look reveals that every piece of his has a meaning, a purpose. Joe is not crazy (maybe a little bit), he just is happy. He had a glint of joy in his eyes, and I knew us being there made his day.
-Ilona
I want to work on feeling more comfortable with the people we are meeting. Everyone has been so nice and welcoming, but I haven’t really welcomed them. Like today, Joe Minter said something funny, and he was laughing, and his laugh is unlike anything I have heard, and it made me feel so welcomed. Myself, though, I had a hard time laughing, even though I thought it was funny. Now I wonder if I shared my laugh, would he have felt even more comfortable, and then we could have even more special moments and conversation?
-Ally
I realized I am so aware of how I act around black people here. I’m always overthinking how I act, and if I’m seeming privileged, or something. I think I’m just being parinoid, but it’s uncomfortable always worrying if I’m doing something wrong. -Aleksa
A million foot soldiers
To hold up
Leadership
Stop looking
Through the glass
Look at them
They spoke, too
They marched, too
They died, too
They held you
Thank them, too.
-Annelisa
We Fly Meet with Reverend Thomas Wilder and Dr. Martha Bouyer at the Historic Bethel Baptist Church. Dinner catered at the new Bethel Baptist Church Retire to YMCA Hargis Retreat Center
My focus and perception of my surrounding has changed and I am now noticing every detail that sticks out from the white travelers and black staff (at the airport) to how we have been treated so far. I am extremely ready for the focus I am to give on this trip and so excited for what is to come.
-Julian
When I handed Dr. Martha Bouyer the syrup and thanked her, she just gave me a big hug. I can’t really describe what I felt in that moment, but I kind of feel like our thoughts and emotions passed to each other in that second. It is amazing how much a hug can do.
-Roxanne
During the singing at the old Bethel Baptist Church, I was overcome with emotion. I don’t know exactly what I was feeling and how to process it. It felt like coming to Alabama, just being here after all our class has done to prepare, was important. Like there was a purpose for me being here in all my youth and whiteness.
-Siri
The most profound thing is being at historical Bethel Baptist Church and seeing the place where Reverend Shuttlesworth fought for civil rights. Standing at the pulpit was just amazing even if I was a bit nervous.
-Owen
It’s all been very surreal. From driving around the neighborhoods to talking to the folks inhabiting them, it seems like my privilege is ever present. Questions like why is our community not donating to such poverty-plagued societies, how am I contributing to this? When will equality in our races finally be acknowledged?
-Ilona
As I reflected about today, I noticed how different it was inside versus outside the church (Bethel Baptist). Inside it felt like history, a safe haven to escape. Outside I saw a different history, the story of segregation, the history of the marches to freedom.
-Ava
Singing at Historic Bethe Baptist Church
Boarding Passes!!!
At large in Charlotte
Dinner at Bethel Baptist Church
Soul Food
Historic Bethel Baptist Church
Ghost house of Reverend Shuttlesworth’s Parsonage
Historic Bethel Baptist Church
Lessons from Dr. Martha Bouyer
We learn of the violence brought against this church
Owen recites in the voice and spirit of Reverend Shuttlesworth
Magda finds the voice of Angela Davis at Historic Bethel Baptist Church
Tour of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center
with Barbara Sahli and students of Malik Academy
Lunch at café with students of Malik Academy
Salaat Prayers
Meet with Brother David Vryhof from the monastery of the Society of St. John
Eucharist Service, Society of St. John the Evangelist
Last Supper in Harvard Square
My favorite part of the visit to the ISBCC was the call the prayer. The chanting was just extraordinary, and everyone worshipping Allah side by side rang so beautifully of peace and connection.
-Siri
Today I did something I’ve never done before: go to a Mosque. I studied Islam, but seeing it in practice was enlightening. We started by putting on our hijabs. But putting it on, I suddenly felt part of something larger than myself. Instead of feeling oppressed, I felt connected to those millions of women proudly wearing them all over the world.
-Julia
It was so great and beautiful to meet with the kids from Malik Academy. I have said that you don’t fully know a religion until you meet with people from the religion, but now I think you can’t fully know a religion until you meet with people of your own age from a religion.
-Julian
A Story from the Islamic Society of Boston and Cultural Center
When my hijab came undone, Anisa fixed it for me. I made a friend. The end.
-Hazel
It is one of the most amazing feelings in the world to hug a group of people goodbye who you only met that day but already love. I wish we could have spent some more time with the Malik Academy students. They made me feel comfortable, even though I was wearing a hijab and was in a place I did not know. I feel sooooo lucky to have had this experience and I will never forget it. It’s amazing that people from different backgrounds and with different beliefs can have so much fun.
-Emmy
The monastery made me want to try out the monastic lifestyle. There was a welcoming a feeling all throughout the church. All the brothers seemed very happy and kind. Out of everywhere we’ve been, this has been the closest one to my religion.
-Anna
Call to Prayer at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center
Ready for the day
Our first view of Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center
Preparing to enter Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center
Barbara helps tie head scarves
We learn about the Mosque
Breaking the ice with a little “Which Way the Wind Blows”
Together we read testimonies of young Muslims’ experiences in America
Then we dialogue about what we understood from the testimonies
We wished we had more time to talk
We really got to know each other at lunch
We made friends
Julia gets a lesson in some of the finer points of tying her head scarf
Many connections were made
On our way back to Harvard Square
The monastery of the Society of St. John
The Society of St. John
Brother David Vryhof introduces us to the monastery
We get a tour of the monastery
The Charles calls
Our last supper
Ready for the day
Our first view of Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center
Preparing to enter Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center
Barbara helps tie head scarves
We learn about the Mosque
Meeting with middle school students from the Malik Academy
Breaking the ice with a little “Which Way the Wind Blows”
Together we read testimonies of young Muslims’ experiences in America
Then we dialogue about what we understood from the testimonies
We wished we had more time to talk
We really got to know each other at lunch
We made friends
Julia gets a lesson in some of the finer points of tying her head scarf
Many connections were made
On our way back to Harvard Square
The monastery of the Society of St. John
The Society of St. John
Brother David Vryhof introduces us to the monastery