[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.68,0:00:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am Awele. Daughter of Alice, granddaughter of Ruth,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.00,0:00:24.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,great-granddaughter of Big Momma Alice and Madir Corine
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.20,0:00:29.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,great, great granddaughter of Anna and Zitii Benyen.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.92,0:00:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is my hope
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.00,0:00:36.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to find my best possible self in the service of others.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.65,0:00:40.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now my daddy? He used to tell me stories.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.69,0:00:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My daddy, he would say,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.00,0:00:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I want you to know who you are and where you come from.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.00,0:00:50.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That will guide you as you discover who you must be.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.54,0:00:53.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now you listen to this story, you hear me baby girl?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.35,0:00:55.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not going to be in a book.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.18,0:00:57.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Your teacher's not going to tell it,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.03,0:01:00.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but you need to understand who you are."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.22,0:01:02.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That became a guiding principle
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.39,0:01:05.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the stories that I wanted to tell.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.01,0:01:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Stories about legacy of who we are.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.00,0:01:12.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I used to hear all the time that children are the future,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.65,0:01:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but what does that cliche really mean
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.00,0:01:17.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how are we preparing them?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.42,0:01:20.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I looked for narratives about young people
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.02,0:01:21.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the legacy that they bring
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.47,0:01:23.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as agents of change.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.26,0:01:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The power that you have right now.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.00,0:01:30.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Today, March 2, 1955,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.32,0:01:32.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the story that I want to share with you
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.74,0:01:35.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,comes from 1955, March 2nd.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.80,0:01:39.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's about a courageous 16-year old girl,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.08,0:01:41.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Claudette Colvin.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.63,0:01:43.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it comes full circle today
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.21,0:01:45.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because a week ago today, in San Francisco,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.86,0:01:47.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my middle school students,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.16,0:01:49.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they performed a program that I had written,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.30,0:01:51.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Agents of Change,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.76,0:01:54.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,starting with the reenactment of Plessy vs. Ferguson
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.54,0:01:57.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from 1892 to 1896,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.44,0:02:00.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,moving to Brown vs. Board and a student-led strike
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.17,0:02:02.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by Barbara Rose Johns,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.05,0:02:05.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,jumping to Claudette Colvin and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.52,0:02:09.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and ending in 1960 with the sit-in movement,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.29,0:02:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the non-violent movement led by students.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.00,0:02:15.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I'm going to share the story
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.75,0:02:19.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I would like to also share the work I do with it
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.23,0:02:22.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a case study.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.23,0:02:27.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I paid my dime at the front of the bus, and then I ran to the back door
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.68,0:02:30.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the rest of the colored kids so the driver wouldn't take off
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.63,0:02:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before we got on.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.00,0:02:36.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Also, well, whites don't want us walking down the aisle next to them.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.65,0:02:39.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I got back on the bus, the colored section was full,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.82,0:02:42.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so, I sat in the middle section.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.61,0:02:44.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I took the last row seat on the left,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.45,0:02:46.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was right by the window,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.23,0:02:49.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wasn't thinking about anything in particular.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.03,0:02:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Hey."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.00,0:02:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I didn't know the girl next to me either, this older girl.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.00,0:02:57.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I just looked out the window.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.46,0:03:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Driver went more stops, more people were getting on,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.00,0:03:01.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,colored and white.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.40,0:03:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pretty soon, no more seats were available.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.00,0:03:06.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Give me those seats," the driver called out.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.52,0:03:08.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Colored folks just started getting up.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.34,0:03:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,White folks started taking their seats, but I stayed seated.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.00,0:03:15.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Girl next to me and the other two across, they stayed seated.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.25,0:03:17.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I knew it wasn't the restricted area.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.49,0:03:21.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Make light on your feet!"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.05,0:03:22.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The girl next to me got up immediately.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.38,0:03:23.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She stood in the aisle, then the other two girls.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.71,0:03:26.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I told myself, this isn't the restricted area.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.88,0:03:28.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The driver, he looked up,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.99,0:03:32.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,looked in the window, that mirror.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.54,0:03:37.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He pulled over. A pregnant lady, Mrs. Hamilton, got on the bus.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.14,0:03:39.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She ran to the back and got on,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.16,0:03:42.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not knowing he was trying to have me relinquish my seat.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.20,0:03:44.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And she sat right next to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.37,0:03:47.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The two of you need to get up so I can drive on."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.20,0:03:50.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Sir, I paid my dime, I paid my fare.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.71,0:03:52.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's my right, you know, my constitutional ... "
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.77,0:03:56.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Constitutional? Ha ha, let me get the police."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.77,0:03:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well he got off and he flagged down two motormen
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.00,0:04:00.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they came.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.44,0:04:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And those motormen, they came onto the bus.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.00,0:04:05.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Looked at Mrs. Hamilton,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.82,0:04:08.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Now the two of you need to get up so the driver can drive on."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.85,0:04:12.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Sir, I paid my dime. I'm pregnant.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.31,0:04:15.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If I were to move right now, I'd be very sick, sir."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.31,0:04:17.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Sir, I paid my dime too, you know, and it's my right,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.82,0:04:19.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my constitutional right.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.83,0:04:21.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm a citizen of the United States.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.38,0:04:23.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You just read the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendment --
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.09,0:04:24.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it'll tell you so.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.66,0:04:27.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I know the law. My teacher, she taught it at school."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.12,0:04:29.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You see, my teacher, she taught the Constitution,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.55,0:04:31.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.91,0:04:34.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Patrick Henry's speech -- I even memorized it.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.91,0:04:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My teacher, she would prick our minds,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.00,0:04:40.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,trying to see what we thinking about.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.34,0:04:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She would say, "Who are you? Hmm?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.00,0:04:45.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who are you sitting right here right now?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.60,0:04:47.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The person that people think they see
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.60,0:04:49.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from your outside?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.23,0:04:51.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who are you on the inside? How you think?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.27,0:04:53.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How you feel? What you believe?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.27,0:04:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Would you be willing to stand up for what you believe in
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.00,0:04:57.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even if someone wants to hold you back
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.73,0:04:59.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because you're different?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.78,0:05:03.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do you love your beautiful brown skin children? Hmm?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.69,0:05:06.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Are you American?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.60,0:05:08.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What does it mean to be an American? Huh?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.69,0:05:12.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Homework tonight, write me an essay: What does it mean to be an American?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.57,0:05:14.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You need to know who you are, children!"
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.65,0:05:17.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My teacher, she would teach us history and current events.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.66,0:05:21.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She said that's how we can understand everything that's going on
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.40,0:05:23.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we can do something about it.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.52,0:05:27.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Sir, all I know is I hate Jim Crow.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.05,0:05:29.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I also know that if I ain't got something worth living for,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.31,0:05:30.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I ain't got nothing worth dying for.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.55,0:05:32.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So give me liberty or give me death!
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.28,0:05:35.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ouch! I don't care! Take me to jail."
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.48,0:05:37.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They dragged her off the bus.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.58,0:05:40.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Next thing, Claudette Colvin was in a carseat,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.96,0:05:42.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,backseat of the police car,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.92,0:05:47.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,handcuffed through the windows.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.85,0:05:52.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The following year, May 11, 1956,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:52.77,0:05:57.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Claudette Colvin was the star witness in the federal court case,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.02,0:05:59.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Browder vs. Gayle.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:59.20,0:06:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Her, an 18-year-old teenager
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.00,0:06:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and two others, women, Mrs. Browder.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.00,0:06:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Their case, Browder v. Gayle, went up to the supreme court.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.00,0:06:16.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the heels of Brown vs. Board of Education, the Fourteenth Amendment
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.78,0:06:23.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and her powerful testimony that day, the rest is history.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.95,0:06:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now why is it we don't know this story?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.00,0:06:28.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Montgomery Busy Boycott --
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.28,0:06:30.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we hear Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.08,0:06:32.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they will forever be lifted up.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:32.64,0:06:35.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the role of women that played in that movement,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.71,0:06:39.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the role of Claudette, as an upstander,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:39.74,0:06:44.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it teaches us important lessons that challenge us today.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:44.03,0:06:47.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What does it mean to be a participant?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.86,0:06:52.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A responsible citizen in a democracy?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:52.39,0:06:56.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And lessons of courage and of faith?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:56.29,0:06:59.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I find freedom movement history that includes young people
Dialogue: 0,0:06:59.06,0:07:01.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that they can explore these big ideas
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.77,0:07:04.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of identity, your chosen identity
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.71,0:07:07.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the imposed identity.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.01,0:07:09.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What does membership in society mean?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:09.18,0:07:13.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who has it? How do we make amends?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:13.12,0:07:17.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Race and violence in America,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:17.15,0:07:20.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as well as participatory citizenship.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.46,0:07:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So these stories allow me to have conversations,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.00,0:07:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to speak the unspeakable, that many are afraid to have.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.00,0:07:33.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once in Eugene, Oregon, a young, blond-haired, blue-eyed boy middle schooler,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.52,0:07:35.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the end of a performance in the dialogue said,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.72,0:07:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"But Ms. Awele, racism's over right?"
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.00,0:07:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And not wanting to answer for him, I said, well,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:41.00,0:07:42.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Turn to the person sitting next to you.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.80,0:07:44.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,See if you can come up with evidence."
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.64,0:07:47.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I gave them four minutes to talk.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:47.12,0:07:53.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Soon they began to tell stories, evidence of racism in their community.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.57,0:07:57.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A girl wrote to me, a high school student in San Francisco:
Dialogue: 0,0:07:57.45,0:08:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I was going to skip school but then I heard we had an assembly so I came.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:02.00,0:08:06.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And after listening to the students talk and seeing your performance,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:06.03,0:08:08.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I thought I should organize my friends
Dialogue: 0,0:08:08.50,0:08:10.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we should go down to a board meeting
Dialogue: 0,0:08:10.96,0:08:13.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and tell them we that want to have advanced classes
Dialogue: 0,0:08:13.31,0:08:17.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for A through G requirements."
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.10,0:08:20.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, I tell you this story today
Dialogue: 0,0:08:20.59,0:08:23.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in honor of the legacy of young people that have come before
Dialogue: 0,0:08:23.83,0:08:26.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that they will have guidesposts and signs
Dialogue: 0,0:08:26.58,0:08:30.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be the change that they want to see in this world,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:30.72,0:08:32.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as Claudette Colvin was.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.71,0:08:36.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because she struck down the constitutionality of segregated seats
Dialogue: 0,0:08:36.55,0:08:39.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in Montgomery, Alabama.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.80,0:08:41.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:41.71,0:08:45.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:08:47.17,0:08:49.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.