January 2020 Civil Rights Trip Students Share Reflections on National and Local News

Students on The Civil Rights Trip experience encounters with history that help shape them as confident questioners and responsible citizens of the world. 

Since 2004, Park Upper School students and teachers — along with their peers from Baltimore City College High School and City Neighbors High School — have set off on an annual week-long journey through the South to engage with activists, community leaders, and civil rights organizations. The unique partnership with other Baltimore schools, combined with an opportunity to visit historic sites and meet extraordinary people committed to social justice — including icons of the Civil Rights Movement — creates a powerful and lasting experience for everyone involved. This year, to accommodate more interested students, two groups will make the trip to Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma, Memphis, Little Rock, and Greensboro. (The first group returned on January 24; the next departs in April.) Over 240 Park students have participated in, including raising funds for, the trip since its inception. Each returns with a perspective that only being there can provide.

Today was the last day of our trip, and it was a great day. We went to…the Lorraine Motel and I was brought to tears…I think everything came together at that time, seeing the place where the sniper who killed Dr. King was. This is the first time I’d cried on this trip. I think this has been a hugely impactful trip and I think I need a lot more time to reflect. I feel like I already want to make changes in my community. — blog entry by Dakotah J., Civil Rights Trip 2017

To learn more about the impact of the trip, read the students’ Civil Rights Trip Blog.

Follow this link to the WBAL-TV story on this year’s trip. Among the interviews, you’ll see Park senior Becky Scott.

Follow this link to the Today with Dr. Kaye radio segment (about the 8-minute mark). 

Pictured: The Civil Rights Trip, January 2020, visits the monument honoring the Greensboro Four on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University.

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