Walking in Black History

Effective educational opportunities for students are foundational in shaping motivated and responsible adults. The Walking in Black History program is provided at a subsidized cost to Erie County middle and high school students who are affected by the negative influences of poverty, violence, drugs, crime and other anti-social behaviors. Walking in Black History addresses these influences by drawing a connection between the lives and works of Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, Martin Luther King Jr. and other inspirational African Americans and the positive influence that those men and women had on society.

Unfortunately, the youth of today are generations removed from the history that was lived by their parents, grandparents and great grandparents throughout the Civil Rights Era. Walking in Black History provides a “Freedom Ride” to Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery and Tuskegee, Alabama and Atlanta Georgia and formally introduces participants to southern universities of higher education, museums and historical sites. The program is an effort to work with the educational system to teach tolerance, respect, understanding, self-discipline and citizenship skills, while demonstrating the value of education and the importance of non-violent conflict resolution.

THIS ANNUAL PROJECT INSPIRES ERIE’S YOUTH TO BECOME INFLUENTIAL MEMBERS OF THEIR COMMUNITY WHILE BROADENING THEIR CULTURAL HORIZONS. THE STRONG POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR PARENTS AFFIRMS THE NEED FOR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS SUCH AS THE WALKING IN BLACK HISTORY