We want to build a Youth Center in Selma because Selma has done MUCH MORE for us than we have done for Selma.
Wait, what has Selma done for its country?
Great question. Fifty years ago, if you wanted to register to vote and cast a ballot, it would depend on your skin color. If you tried to register to vote and got rejected because you couldn't guess how many jelly beans were in a jar, and then you raised your voice about this unfair treatment, you could lose your job. If you wanted to make a difference in your community and run for office, your simply couldn't if you were Black in the South.
Selma changed
that.
What has this country done for Selma?
That is the more important question--because the answer is hard to find. The child poverty rate is almost 60%, the unemployment
rate is 13% (double the national average), and less than a fifth of the
population has a four-year degree.
But Selma’s problems are bigger.
Selma has segregated schools, churches, and a white-only golf course. While the
majority of the town is African American (80%, to be exact), there is a memorial for a KKK founder, the bridge leading into the city is named after ANOTHER KKK leader, and a city WWII monument separates veterans into two categories: White and Colored.
Seriously?
Yep. No need to check the date of this post.
It is 2015, and this is the city that was a huge catalyst in the Voting Rights movement. This is the city that was recently featured in a movie
that has already grossed over $43 million, but the town’s average household
income is just over $22,000--well below the national poverty line.
You are thinking, WOW....but what can we do about it?
That is the most important question.
We are the youth of the Freedom Foundation (click to learn more) and we have formed a group called Students UNITE (again, click to learn more) that is coming together to focus on building a dream that is now our own--a Youth Center in Selma, AL.
The problems are big, but building the youth center is a good place to start.
Take a look at what will be inside:
- The Freedom Foundation and Students UNITE’s national
headquarters
- A healthy café that will feed Selma AND provide job training for the Freedom Foundation's mentoring program
- Classrooms for literacy classes, tutoring, and voter education
- An international nonviolence training center bringing to life the
historic practice of Dr. King’s philosophy of nonviolence
- A rehearsal space and a black-box theatre for local
performers, including for the youth in the foundation's flagship program the Random Acts of Theatre
Company (click here, you'll definitely want to meet RATCo!)
- Housing for nonviolence training participants from around the world (one more click if you're hooked: check out the foundation's Alternative Break program that has brought thousands of college students to Selma to learn about its past and present struggles)
So let’s make it happen…
Honor the Sacrifice: Build the Dream.
What We Need & What You Get
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Help Us Build. Our renovation budget is just over $3 million. The Freedom Foundation has already raised over $250,000 and with several thousand volunteer hours already invested in the renovation, it is time for the next steps. We need you to donate whatever you can, even amounts as low as $25 can have a major impact.
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$500,000 completes the exterior. A new roof has been constructed. The demolition of the old windows is complete. We are ready to complete the exterior renovation. The project is at a stage now that, without this funding, we cannot move forward.
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Perks! Our perks include awesome t-shirts, opportunities for your contribution to be forever etched in the building, and even naming rights for important spaces including the cafe, the theatre and the training center. Each gift is a product of the Freedom
Foundation, RATCo, or Students UNITE, and tells an important piece of our
story - from the documentary made about RATCo called “I
Will Dance” to original artwork by our very own Students UNITE artists.
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Be a part of something amazing. Every penny raised in this campaign will go toward the historic renovation of the Tepper's Building into a huge youth center in Selma, AL. You will be a part of something truly incredible. We hope to handily EXCEED our goal, but whether we do or not, we will continue to forge on toward building the dream.
Risks & Challenges
The most significant risk to building the youth institute is time. We are ready and committed to building it, and know the city needs it NOW, but are willing to wait to see the building completed no matter what.
There is no doubt that our plans for the youth institute are not popular with everyone. We have championed integration and Dr. King's ideal of the Beloved Community in a city where segregation is reality. The schools are widely segregated as are churches and neighborhoods. Some of this is human nature, but the history of systematized segregation in Selma persists today in a way that many find shocking. Our work with the Freedom Foundation has met resistance from the beginning, including vicious campaigns to slander our volunteers. "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." (Frederick Douglass)
For us, this challenge simply adds fuel to our fire, and makes us press on with even greater resolve toward seeing this vision come to pass. The youth of Selma are ready for our own youth center. We have put many hours into seeing this project through, and now we are pursuing the resources we need to make our dream a reality!
Other Ways You Can Help
If you know of businesses or contractors that may be able and willing to donate products and services, please let us know!
