WEBVTT 00:00:12.677 --> 00:00:19.000 I am Awele. Daughter of Alice, granddaughter of Ruth, 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:24.200 great-granddaughter of Big Momma Alice and Madir Corine 00:00:24.200 --> 00:00:29.923 great, great granddaughter of Anna and Zitii Benyen. 00:00:29.923 --> 00:00:32.000 It is my hope 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.646 to find my best possible self in the service of others. 00:00:36.646 --> 00:00:40.692 Now my daddy? He used to tell me stories. 00:00:40.692 --> 00:00:43.000 My daddy, he would say, 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:46.000 "I want you to know who you are and where you come from. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:50.538 That will guide you as you discover who you must be. 00:00:50.538 --> 00:00:53.354 Now you listen to this story, you hear me baby girl? 00:00:53.354 --> 00:00:55.185 It's not going to be in a book. 00:00:55.185 --> 00:00:57.031 Your teacher's not going to tell it, 00:00:57.031 --> 00:01:00.215 but you need to understand who you are." 00:01:00.215 --> 00:01:02.387 That became a guiding principle 00:01:02.387 --> 00:01:05.007 in the stories that I wanted to tell. 00:01:05.007 --> 00:01:09.000 Stories about legacy of who we are. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:12.646 I used to hear all the time that children are the future, 00:01:12.646 --> 00:01:15.001 but what does that cliche really mean 00:01:15.001 --> 00:01:17.417 and how are we preparing them? 00:01:17.417 --> 00:01:20.015 So I looked for narratives about young people 00:01:20.015 --> 00:01:21.467 and the legacy that they bring 00:01:21.467 --> 00:01:23.262 as agents of change. 00:01:23.262 --> 00:01:26.000 The power that you have right now. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:30.323 Today, March 2, 1955, 00:01:30.323 --> 00:01:32.738 the story that I want to share with you 00:01:32.738 --> 00:01:35.800 comes from 1955, March 2nd. 00:01:35.800 --> 00:01:39.077 It's about a courageous 16-year old girl, 00:01:39.077 --> 00:01:41.631 Claudette Colvin. 00:01:41.631 --> 00:01:43.208 And it comes full circle today 00:01:43.208 --> 00:01:45.862 because a week ago today, in San Francisco, 00:01:45.862 --> 00:01:47.163 my middle school students, 00:01:47.163 --> 00:01:49.298 they performed a program that I had written, 00:01:49.298 --> 00:01:51.762 "Agents of Change," 00:01:51.762 --> 00:01:54.545 starting with the reenactment of Plessy vs. Ferguson 00:01:54.545 --> 00:01:57.445 from 1892 to 1896, 00:01:57.445 --> 00:02:00.169 moving to Brown vs. Board and a student-led strike 00:02:00.169 --> 00:02:02.046 by Barbara Rose Johns, 00:02:02.046 --> 00:02:05.523 jumping to Claudette Colvin and the Montgomery Bus Boycott 00:02:05.523 --> 00:02:09.292 and ending in 1960 with the sit-in movement, 00:02:09.292 --> 00:02:13.000 the non-violent movement led by students. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:15.754 So I'm going to share the story 00:02:15.754 --> 00:02:19.231 and I would like to also share the work I do with it 00:02:19.231 --> 00:02:22.231 as a case study. 00:02:22.231 --> 00:02:27.677 I paid my dime at the front of the bus, and then I ran to the back door 00:02:27.677 --> 00:02:30.631 with the rest of the colored kids so the driver wouldn't take off 00:02:30.631 --> 00:02:32.000 before we got on. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:36.646 Also, well, whites don't want us walking down the aisle next to them. 00:02:36.646 --> 00:02:39.815 When I got back on the bus, the colored section was full, 00:02:39.815 --> 00:02:42.607 so, I sat in the middle section. 00:02:42.607 --> 00:02:44.452 I took the last row seat on the left, 00:02:44.452 --> 00:02:46.231 it was right by the window, 00:02:46.231 --> 00:02:49.030 wasn't thinking about anything in particular. 00:02:49.030 --> 00:02:52.000 "Hey." 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:55.000 I didn't know the girl next to me either, this older girl. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:57.462 So I just looked out the window. 00:02:57.462 --> 00:03:00.000 Driver went more stops, more people were getting on, 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:01.400 colored and white. 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:04.000 Pretty soon, no more seats were available. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:06.523 "Give me those seats," the driver called out. 00:03:06.523 --> 00:03:08.338 Colored folks just started getting up. 00:03:08.338 --> 00:03:11.000 White folks started taking their seats, but I stayed seated. 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:15.246 Girl next to me and the other two across, they stayed seated. 00:03:15.246 --> 00:03:17.492 I knew it wasn't the restricted area. 00:03:17.492 --> 00:03:21.046 "Make light on your feet!" 00:03:21.046 --> 00:03:22.377 The girl next to me got up immediately. 00:03:22.377 --> 00:03:23.708 She stood in the aisle, then the other two girls. 00:03:23.708 --> 00:03:26.877 But I told myself, this isn't the restricted area. 00:03:26.877 --> 00:03:28.987 The driver, he looked up, 00:03:28.987 --> 00:03:32.536 looked in the window, that mirror. 00:03:32.536 --> 00:03:37.138 He pulled over. A pregnant lady, Mrs. Hamilton, got on the bus. 00:03:37.138 --> 00:03:39.165 She ran to the back and got on, 00:03:39.165 --> 00:03:42.198 not knowing he was trying to have me relinquish my seat. 00:03:42.198 --> 00:03:44.369 And she sat right next to me. 00:03:44.369 --> 00:03:47.200 "The two of you need to get up so I can drive on." 00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:50.708 "Sir, I paid my dime, I paid my fare. 00:03:50.708 --> 00:03:52.769 It's my right, you know, my constitutional ... " 00:03:52.769 --> 00:03:56.769 "Constitutional? Ha ha, let me get the police." 00:03:56.769 --> 00:03:59.000 Well he got off and he flagged down two motormen 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:00.439 and they came. 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:04.000 And those motormen, they came onto the bus. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:05.815 Looked at Mrs. Hamilton, 00:04:05.815 --> 00:04:08.846 "Now the two of you need to get up so the driver can drive on." 00:04:08.846 --> 00:04:12.308 "Sir, I paid my dime. I'm pregnant. 00:04:12.308 --> 00:04:15.308 If I were to move right now, I'd be very sick, sir." 00:04:15.308 --> 00:04:17.815 "Sir, I paid my dime too, you know, and it's my right, 00:04:17.815 --> 00:04:19.831 my constitutional right. 00:04:19.831 --> 00:04:21.377 I'm a citizen of the United States. 00:04:21.377 --> 00:04:23.089 You just read the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendment -- 00:04:23.089 --> 00:04:24.662 it'll tell you so. 00:04:24.662 --> 00:04:27.123 I know the law. My teacher, she taught it at school." 00:04:27.123 --> 00:04:29.546 You see, my teacher, she taught the Constitution, 00:04:29.546 --> 00:04:31.912 the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, 00:04:31.912 --> 00:04:34.908 Patrick Henry's speech -- I even memorized it. 00:04:34.908 --> 00:04:38.000 My teacher, she would prick our minds, 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:40.338 trying to see what we thinking about. 00:04:40.338 --> 00:04:43.000 She would say, "Who are you? Hmm? 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:45.600 Who are you sitting right here right now? 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:47.600 The person that people think they see 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:49.231 from your outside? 00:04:49.231 --> 00:04:51.273 Who are you on the inside? How you think? 00:04:51.273 --> 00:04:53.272 How you feel? What you believe? 00:04:53.272 --> 00:04:56.003 Would you be willing to stand up for what you believe in 00:04:56.003 --> 00:04:57.726 even if someone wants to hold you back 00:04:57.726 --> 00:04:59.781 because you're different? 00:04:59.781 --> 00:05:03.692 Do you love your beautiful brown skin children? Hmm? 00:05:03.692 --> 00:05:06.600 Are you American? 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:08.692 What does it mean to be an American? Huh? 00:05:08.692 --> 00:05:12.569 Homework tonight, write me an essay: What does it mean to be an American? 00:05:12.569 --> 00:05:14.646 You need to know who you are, children!" 00:05:14.646 --> 00:05:17.662 My teacher, she would teach us history and current events. 00:05:17.662 --> 00:05:21.400 She said that's how we can understand everything that's going on 00:05:21.400 --> 00:05:23.523 and we can do something about it. 00:05:23.523 --> 00:05:27.046 "Sir, all I know is I hate Jim Crow. 00:05:27.046 --> 00:05:29.308 I also know that if I ain't got something worth living for, 00:05:29.308 --> 00:05:30.546 I ain't got nothing worth dying for. 00:05:30.546 --> 00:05:32.281 So give me liberty or give me death! 00:05:32.281 --> 00:05:35.480 Ouch! I don't care! Take me to jail." 00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:37.579 They dragged her off the bus. 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:40.962 Next thing, Claudette Colvin was in a carseat, 00:05:40.962 --> 00:05:42.923 backseat of the police car, 00:05:42.923 --> 00:05:47.846 handcuffed through the windows. 00:05:47.846 --> 00:05:52.769 The following year, May 11, 1956, 00:05:52.769 --> 00:05:57.015 Claudette Colvin was the star witness in the federal court case, 00:05:57.015 --> 00:05:59.200 Browder vs. Gayle. 00:05:59.200 --> 00:06:02.000 Her, an 18-year-old teenager 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:08.000 and two others, women, Mrs. Browder. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:13.000 Their case, Browder v. Gayle, went up to the supreme court. 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:16.778 On the heels of Brown vs. Board of Education, the Fourteenth Amendment 00:06:16.778 --> 00:06:23.954 and her powerful testimony that day, the rest is history. 00:06:23.954 --> 00:06:27.000 Now why is it we don't know this story? 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:28.277 The Montgomery Busy Boycott -- 00:06:28.277 --> 00:06:30.075 we hear Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, 00:06:30.075 --> 00:06:32.641 they will forever be lifted up. 00:06:32.641 --> 00:06:35.708 But the role of women that played in that movement, 00:06:35.708 --> 00:06:39.738 the role of Claudette, as an upstander, 00:06:39.738 --> 00:06:44.031 it teaches us important lessons that challenge us today. 00:06:44.031 --> 00:06:47.856 What does it mean to be a participant? 00:06:47.856 --> 00:06:52.390 A responsible citizen in a democracy? 00:06:52.390 --> 00:06:56.292 And lessons of courage and of faith? 00:06:56.292 --> 00:06:59.062 So I find freedom movement history that includes young people 00:06:59.062 --> 00:07:01.769 so that they can explore these big ideas 00:07:01.769 --> 00:07:04.708 of identity, your chosen identity 00:07:04.708 --> 00:07:07.010 and the imposed identity. 00:07:07.010 --> 00:07:09.178 What does membership in society mean? 00:07:09.178 --> 00:07:13.123 Who has it? How do we make amends? 00:07:13.123 --> 00:07:17.146 Race and violence in America, 00:07:17.146 --> 00:07:20.462 as well as participatory citizenship. 00:07:20.462 --> 00:07:24.000 So these stories allow me to have conversations, 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:29.000 to speak the unspeakable, that many are afraid to have. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:33.523 Once in Eugene, Oregon, a young, blond-haired, blue-eyed boy middle schooler, 00:07:33.523 --> 00:07:35.725 at the end of a performance in the dialogue said, 00:07:35.725 --> 00:07:39.000 "But Ms. Awele, racism's over right?" 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:41.000 And not wanting to answer for him, I said, well, 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:42.795 "Turn to the person sitting next to you. 00:07:42.795 --> 00:07:44.645 See if you can come up with evidence." 00:07:44.645 --> 00:07:47.123 And I gave them four minutes to talk. 00:07:47.123 --> 00:07:53.569 Soon they began to tell stories, evidence of racism in their community. 00:07:53.569 --> 00:07:57.446 A girl wrote to me, a high school student in San Francisco: 00:07:57.446 --> 00:08:02.000 "I was going to skip school but then I heard we had an assembly so I came. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:06.034 And after listening to the students talk and seeing your performance, 00:08:06.034 --> 00:08:08.495 I thought I should organize my friends 00:08:08.495 --> 00:08:10.960 and we should go down to a board meeting 00:08:10.960 --> 00:08:13.311 and tell them we that want to have advanced classes 00:08:13.311 --> 00:08:17.095 for A through G requirements." 00:08:17.095 --> 00:08:20.594 And so, I tell you this story today 00:08:20.594 --> 00:08:23.827 in honor of the legacy of young people that have come before 00:08:23.827 --> 00:08:26.585 so that they will have guidesposts and signs 00:08:26.585 --> 00:08:30.723 to be the change that they want to see in this world, 00:08:30.723 --> 00:08:32.708 as Claudette Colvin was. 00:08:32.708 --> 00:08:36.554 Because she struck down the constitutionality of segregated seats 00:08:36.554 --> 00:08:39.800 in Montgomery, Alabama. 00:08:39.800 --> 00:08:41.708 Thank you. 00:08:41.708 --> 00:08:45.277 (Applause) 00:08:47.169 --> 00:08:49.031 Thank you.