Alliance and Understanding
DEADLINE EXTENDED: November 12, 2012!
Alliance and Understanding (AU), is a program that explores the Civil Rights movement and the intercultural partnership between Blacks and Jews.
Successful applicants participate in a retreat, a series of lectures and an alternate spring break trip to four cities in the South. Following the trip students plan campus programs and lessons and workshops on civil rights in local schools.
The AU program is open to all interested Penn students. Knowledge of Civil Rights history or Black/Jewish issues is NOT necessary for participation in this program. All we ask is a genuine interest in the topic, a willingness to learn, and a desire to meet and build new and unique relationships. Applications for the 2013 program will be due November 8, 2012 November 12, 2012. Students must be available to travel March 3-8, 2013.
Focus First is a vision screening program founded by AU students. To participate in the program, contact Rebecca Berger at bergerr@nursing.upenn.edu.
What March 2012 trip participants had to say...
This trip really made me aware of the complete lack of knowledge I have about the civil rights movement. As we traveled throughout the South, it became increasingly clear to me that there are things I learned on this trip that I may have never been taught in an academic setting. I was struck by the sheer amount of information that is completely left out of the history books about the civil rights movement.
Jessica Lewis (Class of 2015)
For me, the Alliance and Understanding Program has been more than just an opportunity to explore the relationship between African-Americans and Jewish Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. It has been a chance to reflect on the sacrifices made so that multiracial and multicultural coalitions such as AU could exist. It's been a chance to question what I had been previously taught about the Civil Rights Movement and to gain new insight so that I may share what I know to others. It has also provided me with the opportunity to begin to evaluate the contributions that I myself will make to this society
Janessa Price (Class of 2012)
On the second day of the trip, meeting Ms. Joanne Bland, Founder of the Voting Rights Museum provided the leeway in to class and race talks. Having been a participant in the civil rights movement from a tender age, Ms. Joanne did not mince words in her admission of struggling to put away all the bitterness from the experience. What moved me most is how candid she chose to be with us. And in this moment of vulnerability, she implored us to rise beyond skin color. Not only so, she encouraged us to share what she had imparted on us with our friends. I remember this speaker most because she not only exposed her strengths as an activist, but her weaknesses too, as an individual who had lived through years of segregation and lack. I remember how liberating and profound it was that night when our group got together at the motel and just engaged each other in honest talk about our perceptions of the day.
Grace Mutuko (Class of 2012)
