If one word could sum up our Rochelle stop it would be
passion. Everywhere we have gone, all of the people we have met, have shared
the belief that together we can and will make change. Rochelle was no
exception. It was so inspiring to see person after person flooding into the
church to take part in stop 13 of the Jailed for Justice Tour. Here is this
tiny little town, we saw one of the biggest turn outs of the entire tour and
the crowd was ready.
The citizens of Rochelle gathered because they were ready
for something new, they were ready for change, they were ready to ban together
and make change a reality for their town and it was an honor for us to be a
part of that. The President of the local NAACP delivered a particularly rousing
speech in support of change. “We cannot rely on these people in Atlanta to make
change, we need to make change right here for ourselves.”
During the community discussion portion of the program we
were troubled to learn that despite the fact that a large portion of the
population of Rochelle is black there are no black bank employees, no black law
enforcement, and there may not be any black school teachers. Segregation is
alive and well in Rochelle Georgia, and folks are ready for a Moral Movement
aimed at shaking a status quo that isn't working.
Rochelle is no stranger to movement, in fact just last year
Rochelle made international news when one high school student decided to
organize the cities first integrated prom. It’s hard for some to imagine but
the civil rights movement simply didn't fully take root in parts of the deep south.
We were truly honored that the young bold organizer, Mareshia Rucker, that lit
that spark was among the attendees last night! It was truly an honor to get to
know her!
We are excited for the future of Moral Monday in Rochelle,
during our community conversation there were even talks of having a march at
the county courthouse. We look forward to that day when we can stand beside our
brothers and sisters in Rochelle.
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