Published:
By Steve Smith, Hartford Courant
Students from Sage Park Middle School and the John Lewis Institute (JLI) for Social Justice at Central Connecticut State University were featured speakers at the annual Martin Luther King Day Celebration.
The event, held at Windsor’s Town Hall and presented by the Archer Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church, was subtitled Why They Matter: The Power of Youth and Young Adults in the Fight for Civil Rights and Social Justice.
Patricia Gardner, organizer and emcee of the event, said youth voices are important, because it was when King was young that he learned the lessons he used later in fighting for social justice. Perhaps, she said, some element of that was when King spent time in Connecticut, when he spent two summers working on tobacco farms in Simsbury.
“Dr. King, as we know, spent time here in Connecticut,” she said. “I really think that started some sparks for him, in terms of looking at the inequities that he experienced. We know that, as a six-year-old, he experienced racism. After being in the south and experiencing segregation, he comes here as a young teen, and experiences something totally different, and then has to go back to that way of life.”
Ava Smith, a Sage Park student, spoke about King’s legacy, and how people can keep it alive.
“Dr. King dedicated his life to the non-violent struggle for the Civil Rights Movement. He played a major role in ending segregation for African Americans in the United States, by leading a non-violent campaign for racial injustice,” Smith said. “One thing is we can lead by example. Two is to advocate for voting rights. Three, and most important of all, is to have faith and always dream.”
Jhayden-Atier Morrison, a seventh grader, has co-authored two books with his mother. One, titled “My Body Belongs To Me,” addresses sexual abuse for young kids, and the other is “Children Have Rights, Too.”
“An example of social injustice is when people are treated unfairly, as in the case of when children are being abused and neglected, or also mistreated,” Morrison said, adding that he was able to attend and observe at a retreat for child survivors of abuse.
“It was there that I first realized that many young children are deprived of the freedom to enjoy their childhood,” he said. “After many annual visits to these retreats I realized that not only did the justice system fail these youths, but also the lack of the knowledge of their rights as children, as it relates to their bodies.”
Sage Park student Samantha McNeil represented her classmates, as the “voice of their future.” She asked her peers why it was important that they have a voice.
“One student said, ‘To speak up about how they feel about racism.’ Another student said, ‘Kids can say powerful things from experiences they’ve had,’ and my personal favorite, a close friend of mine said, ‘Kids are not dumb, they just lack context,’” McNeil said. “What we do and say now can, and will, affect is in 10, 20, or even 30 years from now.”
“We are very lucky to go to a school, Sage Park Middle School, which is part of Windsor Public Schools, in a community where we have a voice,” said student Madeline Hellman. “Sammy, Jaydhen, and I know this, but do other kids know it? We think that many kids in our school don’t know it, and maybe they don’t know that they can have an impact on our world’s ever-changing issues today. That is why it is important for you [adults] to support us, by telling us we have a voice and that we should advocate for change.”
Samantha Curtis, a JLI student and a senior at Central, said she was inspired by something that took place when she was 15 and a volunteer with Group Work Camp, which helps fix people’s homes. She was working on a home of an elderly woman in New Jersey and met two young boys in the neighborhood.
“One day, I asked them what they wanted to be when they got older. One looked at me and said he wanted to be better than Tom Brady in the NFL. The other said he was going to be the next Michael Jordan, only four times better than him and Lebron James combined,” Curtis said, adding that both boys were excellent in their sports, but what was said next was what changed her.
“The six-year-old looked at me and said, ‘At the end of the day, that probably won’t happen,” she said. “I asked him why. His heartbreaking, life-changing response was that he would do whatever it takes to make sure his grandma and family were okay, even if that means he’ll turn to the streets to make money. The idea that these five- and six-year-olds already knew the world had failed them changed my entire outlook on life. That day, I decided my path would take a drastic turn.... I have begun putting in the work to open a nonprofit that provides school resources to low-income communities. That way, the whole community can get involved in the kids, I can reach more age groups, and have the time to ensure that no child will feel like that child did that day.”