Vol. 33, No. 6
Av-Elul 5771
August 2011
An Affiliate of the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte
Freedom Rings from Every Corner of Shalom Park in Summer ‘11
By Amy Krakovitz
Once again this summer,
Shalom Park has played host to 25
African American and Jewish
teens from the Washington, DC
metro area. These young people
are participants in Operation
Understanding DC, a 17-year-old
program that promotes under
standing between the communi
ties, as it teaches the history of the
Civil Rights Movement in the
United States.
After a visit to New York City’s
Crown Heights neighborhood and
the Jewish Children’s Museum
created in memory of terror vic
tim Ari Halberstam, the students
came to North Carolina. The first
stop was Greensboro, where they
visited the site of the Woolworth
lunch counter sit-in, an event that
shook the world and sparked a
national movement.
From Greensboro, they arrived
here in Shalom Park. The first
order of business in their visit here
was an amazing homemade lunch,
put together with love by the fam
ily of Madison Leathers, a student
on the trip. Madison’s grandmoth
er and other family members live
in Charlotte and were so thrilled to
see her and her fellow travelers.
The lunch was followed by a
presentation by two of the original
Freedom Riders from Charlotte.
In 1961, they, along with many
other activists, stepped onto a bus
on its way from Washington, DC
to New Orleans, a test of the
Supreme Court decision in
Boynton v. Virginia, which stated
that interstate travelers could not
be subjected to segregation,
regardless of the state’s local laws.
Charles Jones, an original civil rights
Freedom Rider from 1961, shows off
the shirt that was given to him as a gift
from a client from Ghana.
The first speaker, B.B. Delaine,
was soft spoken and sincere. He
never intended to be a hero, his
only goal was to stand up for what
he believed in. “Making a simple
statement may move mountains,”
he told the group.
Mr. Delaine’s quiet and heart
felt speech was followed by his
Lee Friedman and Madison Leathes
hope that they will increase under
standing between their communities.
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lifelong friend, J. Charles Jones,
who also joined him on that his
toric ride across the south in 1961.
Mr. Jones wowed the crowd by
opening with an extemporaneous
rap. Then he wove a colorful tale
of his life’s history, with tears,
laughter, preaching, rapping, and
song. Bom in 1937 in Chester, SC,
he was always told by his grand
mother that he should never think
that anyone was better than he
was, but to remember that he was
n’t better than anyone else, either.
Living out her words is what
brought him to the Freedom
Riders in 1961. In some places
they stopped, the Supreme Court
raling was ignored, and many of
the riders were arrested. They
opted for the “Jail No Bail” route,
and Mr. Jones spent three months
on a chain gang doing hard labor.
Later in 1961, he was called as
a witness before the House
Committee on Un-American
Activities, where he told the mem
bers of Congress: “It seems easier
to be anti-Communist than it does
to be pro-American. ... And what
have you done lately for ME?”
Mr. Jones made sure that the
The particpants enjoy the homemade lunch.
participants understood that the
HCUA was one place that both
African Americans and Jewish
Americans were targeted and
“neutralized.” “Jewish people suf
fered discrimination in this coun
try just like the black man,” he
told the enraptured teens. “If you
don’t know that, you need to edu
cate yourself about it.”
His days as a Freedom Rider
were always close to him. He told
the story to a client of his (he is an
attorney) who was from Ghana,
and when that client returned to
his village in Ghana, the locals
were so impressed by Mr. Jones’
bravery during the
Freedom Rides, that they
sent him a beautiful hand
made shirt and matching
hat from their village. As
he donned the shirt, tears
covered his face.
As a final exclamation
point to his life, he was
recently lauded for his
heroism on the 50th
anniversary of the
Freedom Riders. First he
appeared with 150 other
Riders on the Oprah
Winfrey Show. And then
Charlotte magazine did a profile
of him that caused even more of a
stir, because now, wherever he
goes, people say, “Hey, you’re that
guy in the magazine!”
Every one of the students in
attendance was blown away by
Mr. Jones’ spirited presentation.
Though it was only day two of
their trip, they were convinced
that it would be the highlight of
their three weeks, as they learn to
build bridges between their two
communities. ^
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Freedom School Keeps Chimes of
Freedom “Flashing” at Shalom Park
Fifty students from
Huntingtowne Farms Elementary
school and Sterling Elementary
School have been making the
Temple Israel educational class
rooms their home away from
home for the past six weeks as
part of the Shalom Park Freedom
School. Volunteers, young and
old, from across the community
have come together to provide
snacks, read stories, provide
bathing suits and towels, and
companionship to these kids ages
6-11. The scholars begin their
day with a hot breakfast at
Charlotte Jewish Day School,
then proceed to Harambee
(Swahili for “Lets Pull
Together”), where a community
member reads aloud a story. This
is followed by 30 minutes of
motivational cheers and songs.
The scholars return to the class
rooms until lunch to work hard to
improve their reading skills.
After lunch, they are treated to a
wide assortment of afternoon
electives, like yoga, photogra
phy, swimming, art, drama, and
science.
Summer breaks have tradi
tionally been a time where read
ing skills actually slide backward
in kids from underserved back
grounds. The Freedom School
program is designed to curb this
“learning loss.”
National Studies recently
released showed the Freedom
School summer program stopped
learning loss in 95% of partici
pants, and that over 60% actually
recorded reading improvement
over the six-week pro
gram.
Deidre Grubb, Shirley
Rosen, and Rabbi
Schindler lead this
visionary effort to estab
lish the first Freedom
School sponsored by all
Jewish organizations.
All participants at
Shalom Park benefitted
from this six-week pro
gram. Shalom Park
Freedom School Partners
made a three-year com
mitment to the program.
On Wednesday, September 7, the
powerful documentary. Waiting
for Superman will be shown in
Lemer Hall at 7 PM. Tickets are
$10 and will benefit the Shalom
Park Freedom School. This is
open to the entire community. If
you want to get involved or sup
port the Shalom Park Freedom
School visit www.spfreedom-
school.org. ^
—Gale Osborne
The amazing
School.
Teen Board of the Freedom