Hey, today I’ll be talking about our latest project, Past Forward. In this project, we studied the Civil Rights Movement, and how learning about past social movements can help us learn about today.

A huge part of this project was our field study, where we went to Tennessee and Mississippi. On this trip, we made incredible memories that will stay with me for life. 

Big Idea and Driving Question

The Big Idea for this project was that social initiatives can transform individuals and systems. The driving question was “How can stories of social activism and change from the past inspire us to create a positive impact in our communities today?”.

Our challenge was “[To] Use the power of video storytelling to spotlight an individual who made brave choices to bring about positive social change, inspiring others to do the same.”.

My Individual

My individual was Marvin Gaye. I chose him on a bit of a whim, since I had been listening to much of his music around the time we started this project. My (as well as many others’) favourite album is What’s Going On. The album is heavily reflective of the social change of the time of the Civil Rights movement, and touches on topics of violence and destruction seen in the Vietnam War.

I thought Gaye would be the perfect person for me to research, since his music tells powerful stories – and I enjoy listening to it.

The Learning

Another important part of this project was the use of Socratic Seminars. Now, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the Socratic Seminar, but regardless, I did my best to participate to the fullest extent. 

In the Socratic Seminars, we discussed and asked eachother open ended questions that revolved around the media we were learning from. Mainly, this was from videos and movies we watched that related to the topic. Here are some more detailed notes:

https://clubs-send-hsx.craft.me/6AVbQ7OH0eU9H7

The Field Study

Now, it’s time to discuss the most exciting part of this unit (if you disagree, you either didn’t come or maybe you have some sort of deep-seeded problem that should be addressed immediately), and that would be the trip we took to Mississippi and Tennessee to not only learn about, but to experience the places (and even people) we researched in the classroom.

Before I talk about the trip, I’m gonna talk about the last one. If you don’t know what happened on the last trip, good – let’s keep it that way. No, of course I’m not going to share what happened, I’ll be using this blog as a reference for future employers someday! What I will say – and this is a gross simplification – is that myself and a few students made some pretty stupid decisions that would rival those of Ferris Beuller, and could’ve landed us in a much more serious situation than being late for my graduation ceremony. These actions came with consequences, but more pressing than the immediate consequences was the trust that myself and those involved lost with the rest of our class and our teachers. This was a huge bump in the road for me and despite the regret we all had (and still have), the past is the past, and we were forced to move forward. For me, this looked like being more conscious of the consequences of my actions, looking out for my friends, and realizing that there is a time and a place for everything, and sometimes, quite often actually, those times and places don’t overlap. 

In a sense, I’m glad I learned this the hard way. I regret that it had such an effect on everyone else, but it was an important lesson to learn, and since I’ve got no way to reverse the past, I can only make better decisions in the future. The whole reason I’m bringing this up is that for me, and hopefully my (for lack of a better word) accomplices, this trip was that chance to prove that yes, we have grown from our mistakes. For me, it was a way to demonstrate that I’d matured, and to prove not only to my teachers, but also to myself that given the same opportunities to make those immature decisions, I wouldn’t. It was a second chance at redemption that I was lucky to get an opportunity at. I’d like to stress how important this was to me, and before I get into the details of our field study, I’m going to say how proud I am of myself and the growth that I’ve shown between the stupid decisions I made last year, and the mature ones I made this year. 

Now, onto the trip.

The trip was a busy one, and not without its hitches. One of our chaperones who shall remain unnamed to protect their dignity, was late due to unforeseen circumstances that could be deemed an act of God. This led to a bit of confusion, but we worked around it.

Our first major stop was the Jackson Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, where we met multiple people who had been involved in the Civil Rights Movement, namely Hezekiah Watkins, the youngest living Freedom Rider. We got the opportunity to have conversations with these living marks in history, and it was a surreal experience.

The next place we went, and one that stood out most to me, was Money, Mississippi, where we went to the Emmett Till Historical Intrepid Center (ETHIC). Money, MI was the site of the murder of Emmett Till, a 14 year old African American boy who was lynched after whistling at a white woman. This center was one of the only museums I have ever been to that has brought me to tears. If anyone reading this ever gets the chance to go to Mississippi, if you can only go to one place, it should be this center. I left feeling like a different person. The museum itself was great, but what really put the experience together for me was the emotional rollercoaster of a story that Mayor Johnny B. Thomas tells of not just Emmett Till, but the history of racial injustice in the southern USA.

Since music was a huge part of our learning, we stopped at the Grand Ole Opry for a show, and even went to RCA studio B, where Elvis Presley and countless other prolific artists of the 60’s and 70’s recorded their biggest hits. As a musician myself, this was like a pilgrimage to Mecca, and being inside the walls of the studio was surreal. We also went to Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley, which was way more interesting than I had initially expected.

Throughout these adventures, we were recording footage for our videos that I mentioned earlier. I’ll link mine at the end of the post. These interactions with the people we interviewed for these videos were, and I mean this with all respect to my teachers, a million times more impactful than any of the lessons we could have possibly learned in the classroom. 

I got off the plane at the end of the trip feeling fulfilled. Not only had I had an incredible experience with my classmates and teachers in another country learning about a topic I am very interested in, but I was also able to show the growth that I’ve made since my shortcomings on the last field study. This was a big priority for me, and I am so proud that I was able to prove to my teachers and to myself that I have taken the bad decisions I’ve made in the past, learn from them, and turn them into good decisions in the future. I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the trust that my teachers once again placed in me, even if it was against their better judgement. Anyhow, this was a big goal for me since everything that went down last year, and I’m so happy with how it’s turned out.

The Finish Line

We ended this project in a pretty unique way. We sorted ourselves into groups dependent on the types of people we each studied, and held a round table discussion on what we learned. Parents came to the discussion, and although I feel that individual discussions may have been a little more effective, we were able still to demonstrate our learning to our parents and to our teachers in a way that involved them.

That brings me to the video, and the video brings me to the end of this blog post. Thank you for taking the time to read, and I hope you enjoyed learning about this project and the personal growth I made throughout it.

Link