Standing on the Legacy Rosa Built

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Editor’s Note: The Teaching Tolerance Advisory Board gathered over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend in Montgomery, Ala. Board members offered insights and feedback on lessons, articles and other projects. A few board members shared their thoughts of that weekend. Read them here and here.

Sitting and standing. It’s amazing how much of our history involves those two simple acts. 

A woman refused to relinquish her bus seat. Students sat at segregated lunch counters. People stood on street corners and boycotted public buses. A minister stood in front of hundreds of thousands delivering a dream. History echoes with the audacity of simple acts. My simple act was attending the first Teaching Tolerance Advisory Board meeting in Montgomery, Ala.

When I first applied to be on the board, I didn’t know much about it except that I’d be asked to do some work for Teaching Tolerance, a resource I’d used in my elementary career. I also knew that I’d be able to sit and talk with people from around the country engaged in equity work.

Our day started standing in front of the Civil Rights Memorial. Water bubbled up from the center and off the rounded edge. The memorial looked as if it were crying; perhaps it was, for martyrs known and unknown in the struggle for equality. 

Our diverse group gathered to learn about Teaching Tolerance. Most of the day, it felt like we were sitting in a doctor’s office, being mentally poked and prodded for our opinion on upcoming articles, the web site, and future lessons. It was thrilling learning about what may be coming down the pike for Teaching Tolerance aficionados.

One highlight involved the Gallery Walk.  Each board member wrote up a favorite equity teaching practice, which was posted on giant pieces of paper around the room. We stood and read, silently writing reflective comments. They  illustrated the breadth of equity work happening around the country.

Sitting together at mealtimes allowed us to start building personal connections. Still, for many of us, it wasn’t enough time. The day ended much too quickly and late, in our hotel lobby, with promises of connection and communication before we left. 

Since I live in Oregon, I requested to stay to visit historical sites. One highlight was sitting for an hour at the spot where Rosa Parks was removed from her bus and arrested. It was quiet, save for an occasional Troy University student parking to study at the nearby library. It occurred to me that all of this—my attending the board meeting and diverse students attending college classes—is a legacy of Rosa’s act. We are the beneficiaries of the struggle.

I eventually returned home and back to mentoring my great group of first- and second-year elementary teachers. The nature of equity work sometimes feels like you are standing alone, especially when speaking up for systemic or institutional changes. However, I am now reminded of the chorus of voices behind me, from my new friends on the Board and the staff of Teaching Tolerance, to the citizens willing to stand up for what was right. Then I remember I am never alone in this work. And I, too, have stood for something.

Hiller is a mentor to first- and second-year teachers in Oregon and member of the Teaching Tolerance Advisory Board.