Jackson Free Press

What happens when you bring prominent civil rights leaders, religious leaders, teachers, historians, musicians and students together in Jackson? On Saturday morning May 3, 2003, at Mikhail's Restaurant many were given the opportunity to see for themselves. The gathering was a follow-up for the participants who conducted workshops at the Bob Moses Day celebration at Lanier High School on Friday, May 2, with the theme "Courage to Change: Consciousness, Culture and the Human Condition."

"The purpose of this follow-up came from the idea that last year those who held the workshops were never allowed to network with each other," said Moses. Moses was the leader of Freedom Summer 1964 and is now an algebra teacher at Lanier High School during the week, and a resident of Cambridge, Mass., on the weekends. He started the Algebra Project in 1982 to help children of color over what he coins substandard "sharecropper education"—which he believes is particularly egregious when it comes to math. (And the time has never been riper; starting this year, the federal government is requiring every high school student to pass a difficult mathematics exam in order to graduate from high school.)

After we all finished eating Frank's biscuits, we left the diner for the conference room where an ice-breaking opening song "We Shall Not Be Moved" was sung as all attendees sat in a round circle. Those who still had not broken through the ice were given a second chance when everyone was asked to introduce him or herself. The youth were asked to give their name, where they spent their childhood, where they saw themselves in 10 years, and what adults can do to help them. The adults' instructions were a bit more complex. Each adult was to give their grandmother's name, where she spent her childhood, when they first became acquainted with the movement, and words of advice to the youth who were in attendance. Most put emphasis on going abroad and learning as many languages as possible because "language is the passport to the world."

What started as a morning of smiles, greetings and firm handshakes evolved into an occasion of emotions and expression. The most interesting experience was hearing the histories and backgrounds of all these freedom fighters from across the globe. That morning at Mikhail's there was a combination of blacks who felt the oppression firsthand and whites who witnessed the oppression exercised on their fellow citizens. However, all of them made the decision at some point in their own life that change was inevitable, unavoidable, that one can only run for so long from the one responsibility all Americans and all mankind share: Love Thy Neighbor. As we closed the day with several minutes of remembrance and homage to the all the ancestors that have paved the way for our freedom today, love was definitely in the air. Most importantly it was in our hearts and minds.

Bob Moses left us with the words: "Falling and stumbling is only a part of learning to walk." What I gained from these words is that hurting others and disliking is only a part of learning to love. Those people who expressed hatred toward others in the heat of the movement were only going through the learning process necessary to love. efore the benediction, we sang, just as we had in the beginning of the program, "We Shall Not Be Moved," completing the cipher and letting us know the end is just the beginning.