Monday, January 21, 2008
"Nothing that has happened in my life since I was 16 years old would have been possible. I wouldn't have been in radio. I wouldn't have been on television. I wouldn't have been who I am. I wouldn't have become what I've become. I wouldn't live where I live. I just wouldn't have the life that I have without Martin Luther King Jr."
Oprah's team traveled to Gee's Bend, Alabama where most of the residents are direct descendants of slaves. The island town is separated from Camden - a mostly all-white town - by a murky river. Camden is where residents from Gee's Bend would travel by ferry to receive an education, work, get medical care, and purchase supplies. In the early 1960s residents began to march against segregation and for civil rights. As in many areas of the country, they were "met with intimidation and intolerance." Residents including 76 year old Lucy Mingo, 90 year old Netty Young and 73 year old Mary Lee Bendolph were interviewed.
Another interview was with former Camden judge, Hollis Curl, who published a paper in town in the 1960s in support of keeping the community segregated. Marching for civil rights in town caused many Gee's Bend residents to be jailed, and the white Camden residents wanted "to keep the agitators from coming across" so they stopped running the ferry one night without alerting anyone in Gee's Bend. This immediately cut Gee's Bend off from the source them and left the residents stranded without supplies or even emergency services. The island was isolated and became stricken with poverty - but remained proud.
After the ferry was removed, many lives were lost in Gee's Bend due to lack of emergency services. The trip to Camden was just 15 minutes by ferry, but an hour ride by car - a luxury Gee's Bend residents didn't have. Houses burned down and sick residents died, but through their suffering residents of the island remained strong - women found strength in quilting where they would sing soulful songs - their quilts are now seen as an art form. In 2006, Hollis Curl petitioned to have the ferry returned due to his remorse and the Gee's Bend residents were no longer isolated after 40 long years.
Vy Higginsen runs the Mama Foundation for the Arts in Harlem, NY to insure that the music never dies for this generation of black children. Though Vy felt very connected to her culture and history, she realized in 1978 when her grandmother died that she didn't really know where she came from. After having her DNA tested, Vy discovered that she was 28% European and she needed to know who she was related to. Vy was contacted by her cousin Marion West - a relative through her grandmother Anna West - a white cattle rancher. The pair met on January 18, 2007 and discovered a true understanding about race in America.
During the 1964 Jacksonville race riots, 4 young white men armed themselves and went in search of trouble. Housekeeper and mother of 10, Johnnie Mae Chappell was walking home from work and was hit with a single gun shot which caused her to bleed to death. A picture was displayed on the show of Johnnie Mae's husband, Willie, standing over her in the morgue - the only photo of her that exists.
Lee Cody was a detective at the time, but no one was assigned on the force to investigate the case. Lee Cody and his partner searched and found the murder weapon, arrested the suspects and were able to get full confessions
Even with the evidence, charges were dropped for 3 of the 4 young men. Lee Cody wanted answers from his boss as to why, but was fired from the force. Willie had to work more to support his 10 children, but because he was away so much, the state ruled him unfit and separated his children into foster homes.
32 years after Johnnie Mae's murder, in 1996, Lee Cody saw a picture of her youngest son, Shelton, in the newspaper and decided to contact him to give him the details of her death. The 2 have become close friends and have taken the case to the Justice Department to have it re-opened.
Mildred Jeeter and Richard Loving were an interracial couple who wanted to marry in Virginia in 1958, but because it was illegal, traveled to Washington DC to wed. When they returned to Virginia, the couple was taken to jail and banished from Virginia for 25 years. The couple decided to take their case to the Supreme Court and won - the 1967 Loving vs. Virginia case legalized interracial marriage.
Bryan and Deneta met while attending Harvard in 1989 while Deneta was a sophomore and Bryan a freshman - the pair were friends but did not date. Deneta enjoyed spending time with Bryan, but did not want to date a white man and go outside of her race. After the pair graduated, they went their separate ways.
10 years later Bryan was a civil rights lawyer in Montgomery and Deneta a doctor in Memphis. Deneta decided to contact Bryan and meet up with an old friend and tour Montgomery, a city she had never visited. The 2 took in many sites where Martin Luther King Jr. had made an impact, including the Baptist church where he preached. Deneta noticed that the events touched Bryan personally and the 2 started dating. They eventually wed on October 7, 2007 - one of the estimated 4 million couples to marry interracially since the 1967 ruling.
Teaching Children Through Travel
Tanya, a bus driver for the LA unified school district noticed the students she drove to school each day were struggling - most of them failing. Tanya decided to challenge the students to bring their grades up and she saw a difference after only 5 weeks. Inspired by her students, Tanya took them on a marine biology cruise to show them that there is life outside of their community.
After seeing the excitement in the kids, Tanya joined together with other drivers and volunteers and started the Godparents Youth Organization which provides travel mentoring. Tanya now has a large bus that is her classroom on wheels and has used it to take children to 26 states. Tanya has used this experience to show the kids how to have hope and start to dream again.
