Raise Your Voice
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2004-06-07 10:11:00-04:00
Be One of America's Voices of Civil Rights
"The picket line rules were very simple: no talking, laughing, or chewing gum. Walk on the sidewalk in front of the store, never confront anyone who might cross the picket line to enter the store, and never respond to or initiate any verbal or physical abuse.... After losing revenue for the three years that we boycotted, the store owners relented and hired blacks as store clerks and opened their lunch counters to us."
Priscilla Robinson
South Carolina
AARP and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) are sponsoring a year-long, multi-faceted project to build the world's largest archive of first-hand accounts of the civil rights struggle in America, supported by an array of media ventures, exhibits and special events. The archive will ultimately be donated as a permanent collection of the Library of Congress.
The goal is to collect and preserve thousands of first-hand accounts of the Civil Rights Movement as a living memorial to those who lived through that era and as an educational resource for future generations.
"In the civil rights struggles of the '50s and '60s, those who fought to end segregation and promote racial equality showed us the way," said AARP Ohio State President Mary H. Davis. "Those fighting for civil rights today can derive inspiration from the tens of thousands of Americans who peacefully confronted discrimination, intolerance and resistance."
Your story will be preserved in a historical archive on the Voices of Civil Rights Web site and may appear in other media outlets. Stories will be accepted through 2004 and beyond. The most interesting stories focus on one experience told in 500 words or less. We prefer original, untold stories and cannot pay contributors for their stories.
"We are making every effort to save and share stories that transformed individual lives and society as a whole," Davis said. "The eyewitnesses to history are a vanishing breed, and we must save the memories of those who brought us where we are today."
Those with a story to tell can mail it to Voices of Civil Rights, 601 E St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20049 or submit it online.
You also can see a listing of Ohio events, where AARP will be promoting the Voices of Civil Rights project. Attend these events to add your personal story to the Voices of Civil Rights archive. Please check this listing often as it will be updated regularly.
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