Fight for freedom and the change we crave
My brother wasn’t free. Everywhere he turned, a young black boy was being gunned down, found face down, so his spirit sunk way down
By Ifeoma White-Thorpe
Tick tock. Time is ticking. How many years do I have left to make a change? To not just be a soul moving past, to not just be a reflection in glass? What if the change I make is minimal? Does that mean it doesn't count?
Looking back in time, it is evident that Rosa Parks did not have to shout to be heard, but Rosa also didn't sit to relax. She sat because she knew what those marks meant on those slaves' backs. See I cannot sit, because I already have the seat, but how will there ever be change if nobody is willing to change their ways?
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Let freedom ring," and for the longest time I had thought that freedom had been rung, and that the fight for freedom was done. But when my brother no longer felt safe walking to the bus stop, or putting his hood up on rainy days, I began to question what is freedom, and how free am I today.
My brother wasn't free. Everywhere he turned, a young black boy was being gunned down, found face down, so his spirit sunk way down. My brother was confined to his room, no longer allowed the leisure of going to play basketball after 5 o'clock at night, for my parents feared for his safety; the robbery of human life grown out of spite.
Dictionary.com defines "freedom" as "the power to determine action without restraint." All Americans are protected under the U.S. Constitution, yet it does not seem so. But if people do not feel free in their own community, then where will they be free and what will enable them to be self-determined? Stripped of their colors, in order for others not to fear them.
In 1960, freedom meant integrated schools. In 1965, freedom meant being able to march to Selma and back without being brutally abused or slaughtered, and it also meant the right to vote without excessive restraints. In 2015, 50 years after the Voting Rights Act, what exactly does freedom mean?
In order for me to make a change, I must first change myself. It is left to me to assist in dispelling the biases that the black girl cannot be knowledgeable. It is up to us who are fortunate enough to receive an education to pass on the knowledge that we have acquired.
We must peacefully fight for the change we crave, no matter the circumstances we are in, as Dr. King did. When faced with adversity over who we are, we must have the strength to overcome. In order to advance my rights, I will continue to dismiss the stereotypes of the black female, and assist in creating a new mold in which we are viewed as atypical of what we once were.
I will be outstanding, so that others will respect me. I will be ravishing in the way that I sew my words together to conceive a beautiful unmitigated harmony. Education is the key to a door that has already been unlocked, but is still shut closed. It is available to all Americans, yet not all pursue it; but I will.
As Dr. King once said, "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education." Education is essential for change, and I aspire to be that change.
The National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia is today hosting the culminating event of the 2015 Selma Speech and Essay Contest, honoring the three student finalists who were chosen from about 800 submissions. Local and national leaders, representatives from the John Templeton Foundation and the museum, as well as parents, teachers, and friends, will celebrate the three finalists: Edan Armas of Roselle, Ill., Evan Lehmann of St. Louis, and Ifeoma White-Thorpe from Morris Hills High School in Rockaway, N.J., whose essay, "Let Freedom Ring," is published here.
For the contest, which marks the 50th anniversary of the Selma march, students were asked to watch the film "Selma" and then submit a 500- to 700-word essay and video on the following: What needs to be done today to protect individual freedom and self-determination? What are you doing or will do to peacefully advance those rights?
For more information on the contest and the museum, visit www.libertymuseum.org/selmacontest.