Montgomery students get first-land lesson on civil rights history
Some students in Montgomery Public Schools got the chance to learn first-hand what it was like growing up in the city during the Civil Rights era.
Dr. Valda Harris Montgomery spoke to 85 students to share her personal experiences from that time. Friday, she walked the students down Dexter Avenue and around to Monroe Street and the Black Business District, telling them of the rich history that once thrived in downtown Montgomery.
“We had a wonderful life. Segregation, yes, and segregated life, yes, but it was still a wonderful life with our own things of that nature — our own theaters, our own restaurants, our own businesses,” she told Action 8 News.
“She probably didn’t assume at a young age that she would have that opportunity, and students like us, who live in kind of a rural town in Alabama, we probably don’t think the sky is the limit, but when you have a woman that has such a influential role in the community, it really inspires individuals and students like us to strive for greatness,” BTW High School student Andro McMath said.
Montgomery Public Schools is working with Amp Up Arts, a statewide nonprofit arts education organization with a strong commitment to promoting increased access to arts education and fostering artistic talents in our communities.
