Oakland Youth Join Congresswoman Lee on Civil Rights Pilgrimage
For Immediate Release
March 4, 2009
Contact: Ricci Graham
(510) 763-0370
OAKLAND, CA - Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) and two local high schools students from the Martin Luther King Freedom Center will travel to Alabama to participate in The Faith & Politics 9th Annual Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage, an event hosted by Representative John Lewis (D-GA).
The annual pilgrimage to Birmingham, Selma and Montgomery provides members of Congress with a sense of one of the more seminal periods in American history. It explores the sacrifices that were made during the Civil Rights Movement and affords Representatives with an opportunity to reflect on how they can continue the struggle for civil rights in this country. Some 125 members of Congress have made this pilgrimage, which has been described as “transformative” and “moving.”
Eric Fuller, a senior at the East Oakland School of the Arts at Castlemont High School, and Gerardo Cuevas, a sophomore at Emery High School, will be joining Congresswoman Lee on the Civil Rights Pilgrimage. Congresswoman Lee, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, is bringing high schools students on the pilgrimage as her guests as she has done in previous years.
“The Faith & Politics 9th Annual Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage assists in translating this country’s civil rights history,” Congresswoman Lee said. “I am very pleased to be joined on this important trip by two high school students from the 9th Congressional District.
“It is my hope that more students will have an opportunity to take this pilgrimage. It is important that future generations gain a greater understanding of the Civil Rights Movement and how it helped to shape our country.”
Congresswoman Lee is the founding chair of the MLK Freedom Center. It is a regional center that is dedicated to Dr. King’s ideals of non-violence, social change, racial and economic just and world peace.
For photos of the students, please contact Ricci Graham at (510) 783-0370.
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