Week Two: "Four Little Girls"

I had heard of the Sixteenth Street Church bombing that was the subject of "Four Little Girls" but it was very different to hear the personal family accounts rather than a summary of the facts. It was difficult, at times, to listen as the parents related the lives of their daughters and the events of the day. I was disturbed by the fact that children became martyrs for the cause of equality, and disturbed by the observation, from the film, that it took an event that horrible to get the attention of "moderate white Americans." Along with the personal accounts of the bombing, I gained a better understanding of the climate of the times and learned that children and young adults were a large contingency in the Civil Rights Movement. Several of the people, who were interviewed and were adults at the time of the bombing, talked about staying away from the marches and demonstrations, while younger people were willing to go. Many adults, both black and white, were dealing with the social situation and were less willing to provoke change. On the other hand, children were less willing to allow the situation to continue and were more active in demanding change. It seems that the deaths of the four girls made it evident that children were being affected by segregation and would continue to be, unless something was done. The deaths also got the attention of moderate adults of any color, who began to realize the levels of hate and intolerance that were active in their own community and the urgency for the change that had to happen.

I know that attacks like the one on the Sixteenth Street Church still happen today, but it is hard for me to imagine hating someone enough to plan an attack on a religious site, where people are peaceful and probably feel the most secure. Obviously, any attack on peaceful civilians is wrong, but for me, the targeting of a church is especially appalling.

Week One: Community Participation

As we begin our participation in class, we are beginning to understand the dynamics of community participation. It's great to hear so many opinions and ideas about involving citizens in the development of their own communities. As each person offers his or her view, I'm reminded that there are as many or more views in a community. While I listen to every and offer my ideas, I realize that the class should be a lot like a community planning session or a charette. We should be able to presnt issues that arise in communities and be able to discuss them and come to some understanding. I'm sure as the class continues, there will be areas that we do not all agree on. However, the differences should give us a wider range of knowledge and should prepare us for working with communities that are not familiar to us. As we have discussions, listen to each other, and take the time to understand each opinion, we should also learn ways to assist groups within communities in listening to each other and developing methods of compromise.

"Walking in Another's Shoes" was an article that gave me some peace of mind about going into communities that are new to me. I appreciated the "outsider's" view and the willingness to admit that mistakes were made. It's difficult to know everything about a place and a group of people. In most cases, we can research and interview, but it may be impossible to know everything at a first meeting or planning session. It seemed that both the "professionals" and the residents were anxious to develop the community and were willing to have a dialogue about the positives and negatives.