The 2011 Civil Rights Trip

What were you doing when you were 12 or 13 years old? What thoughts occupied your early adolescent mind? What vision of the world was forming in those impressionable years? At Southside Family Charter School, students in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades are getting ready for a trip that will change their lives forever…a Civil Rights study tour through the southern United States.

We are asking you, our beloved community, to join us on this journey by making a financial gift.

Students have been studying American history for months. They have been engrossed in an exploration of the moral and religious attitudes and the laws that have supported racism as an institution before and since 1492. They have also been learning about the resistance to this oppression on many levels by all kinds of people throughout history.

And now, just weeks before our mobile classroom leaves to head south over the spring “break,” they are immersed in an in-depth study of the Civil Rights Movement between 1954 and 1965. Soon, they will visit some of the places and meet some of the freedom fighters they have been studying about – people who were students in the 60s and who continue to be active in their communities today.

Every three years, 25 students and their teachers board a bus and travel 3,000 miles through 8 states to learn from dozens of activists who made profound changes towards social and racial justice when they were young.

Now, nearly 20 years since the first Civil Rights Trip blazed a path, we reach out to you, our amazing community, and invite your support and participation in this life changing experience for our students. We don’t want the financial limitations of families to keep children from engaging in this powerful experience. Will you make a tax-deductible gift today to support our students and the work we do to promote justice?

“What is the impact of the Civil Rights Trip?”

Inspiring Learning

I cannot believe the difference in my son’s attitude. Since he has been studying the Civil Rights Movement, his interest in history has come alive. He is completely engaged and he likes to study. His teacher says that he is doing high school level work and is demonstrating a lot of leadership. I am so proud of him. -- Parent

Changing Lives

Hearing the stories about how other people have struggled and dealt with issues in the world, maybe we can do the same; maybe I can make a difference. --Civil Rights Trip Student Alumni

Building Community Across Differences

Some of the questions that (the students) asked were so penetrating and thought-provoking, it helped me to express feelings or certain interpretations of events that were new to me. I don’t know what you are doing, but I am just overwhelmed. --Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Nashville

To me, history is not just a subject in school. It is way more than that. It is a part of me. -- 6th Grade Student

Benefitting our extended community.

Thousands of middle school, high school, college students and adults will experience this trip through a slideshow of Civil Rights history presented by Family School students based on their knowledge and experience. But perhaps most important is the less measurable benefit to our community—that of having children who believe in the power of children to change the world.

Young people stood on the front lines of the Civil Rights battles. Learning from their example, our students are inspired to take their place in the ongoing pursuit of racial equity and social justice.

Your Civil Rights presentation was the highlight of our retreat! Our group was energized, challenged and awakened by the dialogue with your students. -- AmeriCorps Program Leader

We have raised $7,000 so far, and we have $43,000 left to raise to make this trip possible.

Will you help support this transformative journey? Any amount that is significant to you— any number of miles that you can support— will be valuable to and deeply appreciated by our students and their teachers.

Please make your financial contribution to support the Civil Rights Trip. With your help, we WILL lay the foundation for justice for years to come…one mile at a time.