Young Action Leaders To Document and Collect Oral Histories from Lowndes County Elders

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Aug. 18, 2024 - PRLog -- Young Action Leaders from Sanctuary of Hope (SOH) in Los Angeles visited in 2022 and are returning to Montgomery, Lowndes County and Selma this month to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the historic Civil Rights Act.

The SOH Young Action Leaders will be documenting and collecting oral histories from Lowndes County elders. Those to be interviewed were among the youth and young adult leaders of 60 years ago who led the struggle for voting and civil rights so heavily focused in Selma, Lowndes County and Montgomery, Alabama.

Their visit to the heart of the Black Belt is scheduled for August 20-26, 2024. Rev. Kelvin Sauls, a SOH Strategic Community Catalyst, will lead his second group of SOH Action Leaders to Alabama. This new generation of "Freedom Riders" are representative of a much larger group of young people under the stewardship and sponsorship of SOH. The organization, a non-profit, was established 14 years ago and serves youth and young adults who are busy building their lives and striving to become leaders in their communities after overcoming a housing crisis or other life challenges.

The now annual journeys to retrace the steps and to experience the very people who took part in the historic civil rights movement is part of SOH's "DESTINATIONS Immersive Leadership Development Program."

Janet Kelly, SOH's founder, believes their annual visits to the Black Belt help lay a solid foundation for building resiliency and amplifying the visions and voices of the type of young adult leaders that will engage in advocacy and organized action toward realizing a more just and fairer America and world.

"As we embark on this journey to Alabama this August, we are reminded of the historic March on Washington that occurred in August 1963. During that time, young people were at a heightened state of organizing and preparing for their journey to Washington, D.C.," she said.

Kelly sees a similar energy among the young people in her program. "Our African American youth and young adults from Los Angeles are now taking a stand and continuing the legacy of activism. Just as history was made in 1963, we strive to make a difference in our time. We strive to empower and extend the voices of young people toward a more just and equitable future," she said.

The leading mission of her organization is framed by the continuing "relay race" of generation after generation each seeking to realize the potential and promise of America. "SOH has a commitment to develop a deep bench of young advocates and organizers to receive the baton of protecting and preserving voting rights and serving as leaders in their communities," she said.

The 2024 delegation is the first SOH Young Action Leaders tour group to carry with it a mission to gather generational oral/video documentation from elders and descendants of the 1960's struggle in Lowndes County. The goal of the recordings is to preserve history and uplift yet unheard stories of youth and young adult activism of those times to be heard and experienced by new and emerging advocates of today.

The civil rights movement of the sixties was largely composed of, and at times, led by young people. It was their collective bravery, commitment and sacrifice that changed the political and social landscape of the country. Their contribution helped bring on new laws against Jim Crow segregation, elevated voting rights, and equal housing regulations while ushering in a war on poverty and national health care programs for the elderly and poor.

"If not for the sacrifice, commitment, and leadership of the elders and ancestors, who were the youth of those times, we would not be experiencing the potential election of a Black woman president of the United States. If our youth are to become meaningful innovators of the future, there are many lessons to be learned that are not necessarily taught in school," remarked Sauls. Both Sauls and Kelly believe strongly in the immersive experiences they plan and sponsor for LA youth.

The trip, referred to as "transformational travel," is focused on a quest to listen and learn from the leadership and members of the "Lowndes County Friends of the Civil Rights Movement," including, Joanne Mants, Arthur Nelson, Josephine McCall and other veterans and foot soldiers of the civil rights movement.

They will also visit The EJI Legacy Museum, Rosa Parks Museum, Freedom Ride Museum, Dexter Avenue Church, and other sites in Montgomery; as well as the Voting Rights Museum in Selma, and a walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

The Young Action Leaders from SOH have prepared for their trip with weekly virtual sessions to read and discuss two important books; the first, Patricia Parker's, "Ella Baker's Catalytic Leadership," a book chronicling a remarkable woman who helped organize and served as secretary of the Southern Christian Leadership Council, (SCLC) and served as the guide and inspiration of the youth who organized and led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, (SNCC).

The group's second book is Imani Perry's, "South to America," a nonfiction National Book Award winner. A reviewer noted, "South to America offers an assertion that if we want to build a more humane future for the United States, we must center our concern below the Mason-Dixon Line.

Riffing from the title of Perry's award winner, Sauls' desire is to build on the connection she penned in her book, "South to America," and bring youth from "South Los Angeles to the South's Alabama Black Belt."

These preparatory sessions are part of a uniquely developed curriculum aimed at elevating and deepening young people's political consciousness, electoral power, and civic engagement, according to Sauls.

Sauls said his Young Action Leaders also watched the movie, SELMA, directed by Ava DuVernay, and paid close attention to the special documentary released this year, "Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power."

"Connecting youth of today to a past as significant as took place in Lowndes County, will equip our young people of today with foundational knowledge and frames of reference from which they can build resiliency against challenges they will face, reimagine their future, find their purpose, and judiciously exercise their power," said Sauls.

For those who have yet to see it, "Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power," is now streaming on multiple platforms including Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Apple TV, and Amazon Video.

SOH and the Young Action Leaders have a goal to raise funds for the Lowndes County Friends of the Civil Rights Movement in support of their work to honor the legacy of those who sacrificed for freedom and to educate, inspire and mobilize future generations to continue in their example. "They are coming to grow and give," said Sauls.

Note:
You can follow the group on their travels through the Black Belt at their hashtag, #SOHFreedomSummer2024