Middle schoolers sought for free Federation Civil Rights tour

For the second year in a row, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans will sponsor a Youth Civil Rights Trip to various historically important sites in Alabama. The trip will take place on Tuesday, November 26 and is open for all middle school students in grades 6-8, particularly those from the African-American and Jewish communities.

Participants listen to a presentation at the first annual Civil Rights Trip in 2018 offered through the auspices of Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans. (Photo by Mithun Kamath)

Participants will visit the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the scene of “Bloody Sunday” on March 7, 1965, where civil rights protestors were brutally beaten with clubs, exposed to tear gas and attempted to be run down by policemen on horseback. The demonstrators were on their way to the state capital in Montgomery when the attack occurred.

Temple Mishkan Israel, the lone synagogue left in Selma, is also slated to be seen. The important Romanesque two-story structure is down to its last four congregants and is in danger of closing.

Other sites being visited in Birmingham include the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, the site of a destructive September 15, 1963 bombing in which four young girls were killed, the Anne Frank Tree and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

All transportation, meals, and admission fees for all students are being fully paid for by by sponsors Emily Schoenbaum, The Law Office of G. Karl Bernard & Associates, LLC, and Jones Walker LLP.

To register, contact Mithun Kamath at mithun@jewishnola.com or 504-780-5608. The deadline The deadline to enroll is Friday, November 15 at 5:00 p.m.