Jahnvi Post blog

I enjoyed the Atlanta trip immensely. I learned so much history, but the most interesting facet is how easily I was able to connect it to present day situations as well. The fight for civil rights is ongoing, but there is much to learn from looking back on the Civil Rights movement. 

One of the biggest takeaways from the trip I observed was Dr. MLK’s pure devotion to this future was unwavering, and it’s what ignited hope for millions, in the United States and all over the world. 

One thought that really stuck out to me was the influence of Dr. MLK. Following the Atlanta trip, i was listening to the TED/ NPR podcast on my drive home, and they discussed how Dr. MLK was able to amass such a following. The podcast stated that his followers didn’t believe in him, they believed in what he believed in. “Dr. MLK didn’t say ‘I have a plan,’ he said 'I have a dream.’” People flocked to hear him speak not because of who he is specifically but because of what he represented. Dr. MLK was an amazing leader because he was an amazing follower, he was completely devoted to a higher power and vision: for example,a future where a black child and a white child can hold hands on a playground together- a vision that he shared so descriptively (as he was a gifted orator). 

In a time where younger generations are protesting for their civil liberties, I think of the leaders. I think of the parkland kids, who believe unwaveringly in a future where kids can go to school without fear of gun violence, they believe in a future where kids are more civically engaged and hold their politicians accountable- this vision was built through their tragedies, and it is that tragedy that makes their commitment to change unwavering, similar to Dr. MLK. 

I am bringing back a renewed sense of determination, and hope, to Bonner. I feel recharged after this trip, as it’s been easy to get frustrated with the current state of affairs both nationally and globally, especially given the present administration. 

Post-Reflection

From Essence of Hope to the Center for Civil and Human Rights to the Morehouse College campus, our time in Atlanta last month not only allowed for many opportunities to learn about the history of Georgia and the United States, but made me far more aware of the past, present, and future of activism related to civil rights and social justice. Prior to this trip, I had never spent time in Atlanta aside from passing through, but our week in Georgia’s capital was filled with so many memorable experiences that I hope to continue to learn more and possibly return at some point soon.

Like in the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas, racial and economic inequality is clearly everywhere in Atlanta and has been for centuries. During our visit to Sweet Auburn, the National Park Service tour guide explained to me how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. aspired to become a firefighter for the City of Atlanta after spending time in his neighborhood fire station as a child, but later learned that he would not be able to because of the fire department’s racist policies. Plus, as the tour guide at Dr. King’s childhood home shared, practices such as redlining in some of Atlanta’s suburban neighborhoods prevented residents of color who sought to move out of places like Sweet Auburn to newer neighborhoods like Inman Park from doing so for years. Additionally, at the Center for Civil and Human Rights, the horrors of 1906 Atlanta race riot were spelled out and showed the terror felt by African-American residents for those three days and beyond. While these cases date back decades and the forms of discrimination and injustice in the city have changed, our visit to Atlanta, while enjoyable for us, showed that these crises have evolved but still remain prevalent there and around the country today.

From the fact that MARTA does not travel to certain suburban counties because of racist policies to the separation of the city by Interstates 75 and 85 to displacement amid a lack of affordable housing during new development projects, there are a variety of concerning matters from Atlanta’s past and present. From what we witnessed in Atlanta, in the shadow of high-rise luxury hotels and executive office suites, many residents of the city are experiencing homelessness and like Trenton, there appear to be few services or shelters available to them at the municipal level.

At Essence of Hope, for the first few hours that we set up with the other volunteers, the line of clients was already beginning and was soon out the door and down the street by the time the food bank opened. While the people we met who were working or regularly volunteering there were clearly passionate about their facility and I enjoyed speaking with them, working at the front desk checking in clients gave me a completely different perspective on the non-profit and food insecurity in Atlanta. Many who I worked with were over the age of 70 and were understandably frustrated about the process it took them just to put food on the table for their families every week. From standing outside on line for what felt like an endless amount of time to come into the food bank only to wait longer because of malfunctioning computers to walking all the way home with groceries, it was clearly an arduous task not unlike the experiences faced by many patrons of food pantries in the Garden State.

Later on, our visit to Morehouse College, the walking tour of Sweet Auburn, the lecture at the Center for Civil and Human Rights, and other stops were quite informative and taught me a significant amount about HBCUs, local history, and social justice movements. Some of the best experiences from the week to me were our time as Bonners spent together exploring Atlanta and speaking with residents. Our visits to Piedmont Park, the Sun Dial, and Centennial Olympic Park and going out to dinner in Midtown allowed for us to better get to know each other and to see more of the city. Plus, speaking with Atlantans along the way both at our service sites and at the places we visited allowed me to learn more about the region and the daily lives of residents there that I otherwise would not have known. I even ran into a volunteer at Essence of Hope who graduated from my high school in North Jersey 44 years ago.

In my next two years at TCNJ, unfortunately, I am still not sure what specific action steps can be taken to bring change to our Bonner program. I know that it will be extremely useful to continue comparing and contrasting TCNJ Bonner with other Bonner programs like the one at Morehouse in order to make changes and to see how non-profits like Essence of Hope operate similarly and differently from our community partners in Mercer County, though I am not sure how we as Bonners will be allowed to implement such adjustments. However, from this experience, it is clear that more educational opportunities of this sort and learning from other Bonner programs can be extremely beneficial for all of us. I am grateful for our time spent together in Atlanta and look forward to similar experiences in the future.

Atlanta Post-Trip Reflection

I am really happy that I decided to go on this trip. Not only did it expand my connection to the civil rights movement, which had a direct effect on how I live today, it also made me a lot closer with a few Bonners that I did not talk too much before. One of the best moments from the trip was the diner counter simulation at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. It was just so surreal and chilling. Even as I write this entry, thinking about what was said through the headphones and into my ear still moves me. Another one of my favorite moments was walking through Martin Luther King Jr.’s. As aforementioned during our in-person reflection, this tour really humanized MLK Jr. Obviously, he was human just like the rest of us, but his presence throughout history makes him seem so otherworldly. This made me realize that change really can start with a few, normal people and their supporters; a belief that I had lost touch with in the past few years.

Bringing back my experiences from this trip to my upcoming service at PEI KIDS may be a bit difficult. Ideally, it would be beneficial to take the probation students on a trip to various farms to take them out of their surroundings, allowing them both an escape from their daily life and a lesson on sustainability/life skills. Unfortunately, it is difficult to take my students on such trips because of their disinterest in the trip or dissatisfying behavior in the program.

However, if given a chance by our community partner, it would be beneficial to talk about some of the black historical figures (other than MLK Jr.). During one of our Saturday group conversations, many of the students expressed that they see the color of their skin and their culture as a curse. By having serious conversations about the civil rights movement outside of a school setting, it is possible that the students will have an awakening moment, similar to myself, where they realize that what they learned about the civil rights movement actually happened and is not the equivalent of a fairy tale or story. It may even help them feel a bit more empowered in their voice and have faith in societal change. 

Atlanta Post Trip Reflection

Disclaimer: I apologize for the length of this post as I originally intended for it to be two posts.

Part 1

Day 1: After taking a long drive to Atlanta the day before, I came here eager to explore this new city and immerse myself into the culture of Atlanta. This is exactly what this day helped us ease into as we served at the Truly Living Well Community Garden, and toured the historically black Morehouse College. At Truly Living Well, the man who presided over our service had an expansive amount of knowledge of gardening and farming. This information that he gifted us with is exactly what we will bring back to our Bonner service in the fall to help our garden flourish. Truly Living Well, allows people who were sanctioned by the court into community service, to serve there. However, I did not meet any of those people but would’ve loved to learn more insight about our criminal justice system. At Morehouse College, there was an unparreleled sense of camaraderie, pride, tradition and brotherhood compared to any college I visited. Martin Luther King amongst other civil rights activists attended this prestigious university at a time blacks were not admitted to other universities. Morehouse provides an excellent story of how a downtrodden people overcame adversity.

Day 2: That morning we visited Essence of Hope food pantry. It was very different from the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank in many ways. It was more run down but it was a far more eye opening experience. Half of the people serving were given the option to stay an extra hour to serve the needy their food rations. I heavily enjoyed this and found this to be the most altruistic experience that I’ve had while serving in Atlanta as I was interacting with people who needed my help. Many of the people I served food to were elderly and I thought about how they were likely around my current age at the time of segregation and the civil rights movement. I wish I could have asked one of those elderly people about their experience during that time period. We then visited the Civil Rights Museum which I heavily enjoyed. The extensively covered the Freedom Riders, and I learned that Atlanta was the most progressive city in the South when it came to the Civil Rights Movement. Atlanta was actually the first Southern city to end segregation. I sat at the lunch counter simulation which simulates who civil rights activists were treated during sit ins. I stayed for the entire time but many other people couldn’t because of the disturbing way these people were treated. I honestly wish I could’ve stayed longer and found myself taking pictures of exhibits (that we were allowed to photograph) at the end(museum was closing) because I was extremely immersed in this. The top story of the museum contained an exhibit of Civil Rights from an international perspective and the work that still needs to be done. My only critique about this museum is that they did not cover the racial terrorism through the rampant lynchings that Southern White's committed to keep their Black population subjugated into segregation. Georgia lynched the second highest amount of people, at nearly 500.

Part 2

Day 3: That morning we toured the historically black neighborhood of Auburn. A place that spear-headed the Civil Rights Movement. It contained the first black YMCA, the first black Masonic lounge, and numerous predecessors to Dr. King. This neighborhood is where Dr. King was raised and we had the privilege of touring his childhood home. Dr. King had an interesting childhood, being raised in relatively better circumstances than his other black peers. This experience humanized Dr. King instead of viewing him as a christ-like public figure. It was hilarious to hear about King’s childhood antics as he seemed to get himself into a lot of trouble, like destroying his family garage or jumping off the roof pretending he was Superman. At the end of the day we saw some of the King Center but we returned there on Thursday. We concluded our day with a lecture from Ashley Farmer.

Day 4: We began this day by touring Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King, his brother and his father were ministers. We listened to a recording of one of his sermons and I felt the inspiration in his words. I was saddened to learn that his mother was murdered here by a mentally man and that his father died of a broken heart after losing her, and his two sons. At the reflection pool, I learned that Dr. King and his wife were actually buried there from one of the security guards at the park. The guard gave me insight about his brother James “accidental” death of drowning in his pool despite being a fantastic swimmer and the fact there were marks found on his neck. I also gave him some information in return that I learned in my African American history course this semester. We returned to the Essence of Hope food pantry to continue our service that we did on Tuesday and had a dinner afterwards to conclude our trip.

Conclusion: Atlanta was a fantastic and eye opening experience for me. I would heavily recommend any underclassman Bonner to go to this trip. I personally believe that a great way to get underclassmen to attend these trips is to have upperclassmen who have been on these trips to discuss their experiences. This is something I am willing to do, if my suggestion becomes a reality.

Atlanta Reflection Post

The end of the Atlanta Trip came quicker than expected. I learned a lot and was inspired to take back to my highschoolers at BTE some of the things I learned about in Atlanta. The Bonners at Moorehouse has a tradition where they mentor highschoolers and groom them to become the next Bonners. I think this was a great model and one that could be implemented at Trenton High West. In the BTE program, we mentor and tutor a class of all sophomores. This creates a special bond with us Sophmore Bonners and BTE students because they will graduate high school when we graduate from TCNJ.

For next year it's my goal to create a calendar that equips the students with knowledge on which non-profits in their community are having volunteer opportunities. There should be a focus on volunteerism and civic engagement in addition to the academics in the BTE program. I know first hand how life changing volunteering can be and how many doors can open through making connections in the community. Colleges want a well-rounded student who is passionate and involved. This can also help students have references for the Bonner applications they might want to fill out when choosing which college to attend.

In addition to this push on volunteer opportunities and community engagement, I think students could benefit from more experiential learning. One way we can get students gardening and learn about civil rights is having them do field trips that include those topics. Students from the Highschool could help in the TCNJ garden or we could visit museums. Right now at BTE the majority of our trips are to colleges and of course I believe this is very important for students but I also believe many of them need to continue exploring careers they might want to pursue and a good way to do this is through volunteering, experiential learning trips, and discovering what they are passionate about.

Madison's Post-Trip Blog

Before the trip, I now realize my knowledge about the civil rights era was limited to the scarce materials I had from my schooling. These materials were told from an oppressor’s perspective, and did not even begin to define the intense uphill battle people endured, and are still enduring, to secure equal rights. The movie SELMA helped me to visualize the lengths Martin Luther King Jr., the Big Six, and all the other freedom riders, supporters, and allies went to during this movement. I thought a lot about how I, as a white woman, would have reacted during that time period, and react and support similar efforts today. However, what I did not expect to discover after the screening was how the city of Atlanta played such a major role in the movement, and the milestones that occurred there. Walking around Atlanta felt as if I was walking through an interactive museum. I was amazed at how much history was surrounding me. This began at Morehouse College, an institution where so many of their alumni have gone on to become leaders and influencers. I was able to learn more about HBCUs and the importance they play in the lives of their students (and evidently the world since so many of their students continue to have a global presence). Later on, when we visited the Center for Civil and Human Rights, I was able to get more visuals of this time period. One of my favorite aspects of the trip, and most powerful, was during the lunch counter experience at the center. You can read about these protests and watch as many scenes in movies as you want, but until someone sits down, closes their eyes, and hears those slurs and screams, it is all just a history lesson. That was another aspect of the trip that was memorable to me. We went to the center, MLK’s childhood home, Auburn street, etc. Throughout all of these experiences I was astounded at how all of these issues were being talked about from a historical perspective. From one point I understand; these people and places culminate a past decade marked by monumental changes and strides. However, these issues and thoughts and challenges are still prevalent today, and very much so. People are STILL fighting for their rights, fighting for social equality, fighting the institutional boundaries. This was evident when we served at the food bank, as well as the garden. From all of my experiences in Atlanta, there are a few things I hope to bring back to Bonner, my service, as well as myself personally. Most importantly is I need to study more on the practices and methods of the Civil Rights Era, and how their experiences can be used today. That was a question asked during Farmer’s panel that I have been thinking about. Ms. Farmer said herself “you don’t have to reinvent the wheel” and I want to discover more what that looks like. For my service, I would really like to do a gardening or growing activity with the youth at Anchor House. I think working with plants and having something to see progress with, and grow would be very beneficial for them. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this experience in Atlanta. I am still sifting through all of my thoughts and emotions from that week, but I can say that I definitely benefited from this trip. Thanks!

Madison's Pre-Trip Blog

After watching the movie Selma, and reading and discussing supplemental articles about the Civil Rights Era, it is evident that this trip to Atlanta is a necessary one. Personally, my service connects directly to this movement, and is still affected by its efforts today. Tutoring inmates in the Department of Corrections has proven that civil injustices are still apparent in the form of mass incarceration. Additionally, my service at Anchor House relates to civil rights as well in the form of institutionalized racism and oppression. These factors have contributed to many of the youth at Anchor House and their families’ struggles and fights for basic necessities. With all of this, what I hope to gain from this trip to Atlanta is a more concrete look into the Civil Rights era in a historical perspective, but also how it is still present today. I want to speak to the people that live in the South, and hear about their experiences and own struggles with this oppression; even decades after the movement. I also hope to explore Atlanta’s culture, food, history, etc., to get more of a sense of how people there live, and the differences between Georgia and New Jersey; especially in the ways racism is present and oppression continues.