Bridging Selma
Apr 29, 2015 | Stories
Shania Black, 12, was the first black student to attend all-white Morgan Academy, a school founded on the heels of integration in the ’60s, as white families pulled their children out of the public schools. Though she wasn’t threatened herself, she says that other students she carpooled with were bullied for being friends with her and their families received death threats. “I’m glad I that I didn’t know about that then,” she said. “But now I’m happy that I did that because after that year another girl that was African American came to that school, too, and I think me going there helped other African American families know that they could go there, too.” That was in 2008, when Black became the first African American student at the private school that had been all-white since its founding in 1965. She stayed there until this year when she moved to the Freedom Academy, a brand new school run by volunteers from a nonprofit, community-based organization called The Freedom Foundation. ***** Selma Community Church sits on the corner of Selma Avenue and Franklin Street. It is a typical-looking Southern church that was built in 1906. But inside the doors, an unexpected scene unfolds each day: A group of children are laughing, talking, eating lunch and preparing for their speech class. This is Selma’s Freedom Academy, an innovative school that provides an alternative option to traditional education where kids get to explore their passions. The residents of Selma find their city stuck in the past. “In some ways, [the civil rights battle in] Selma helped the whole world but Selma got left...
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