By Karen Sullivan
ksullivan@charlotteobserver.com

Ten students sat captivated while three local civil rights figures told how they took a stand against a segregated society the teens knew only through books and films.

Without even a change in his pitch, attorney Julius Chambers recalled the night dynamite exploded in his home while he and his wife slept.

Sarah Stevenson talked about years of work up to and during the court battle that made it possible for black and white children to attend the same schools in Mecklenburg County.

Former Mayor Harvey Gantt told the students he applied to Clemson University five times before he finally won admission - through the courts.

"We didn't take no for an answer," said Gantt, who was elected Charlotte's first black mayor in 1983, as he and the others talked about their commitment to nonviolent activism.

The meeting at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture was a history lesson with a special purpose.

The middle- and high-school students were invited to meet with three of the city's most influential living historical figures as a way to learn about leadership, service, critical thinking and making good choices.

The event was part of a program offered by the Stratford Richardson YMCA, the west Charlotte branch named for local civil rights activists, through a partnership with Pfeiffer University.

The students will continue their exploration of race and identity during a week-long tour of the South that began Sunday.

They'll make 20 stops, including Nashville, Memphis and, in Alabama, Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma and Tuskegee.

They'll visit the site in Memphis where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died from a sniper's bullet in 1968.

While traveling, the students plan to write about their experiences in a blog and on Facebook and Twitter. After the tour, they plan to create an exhibit of their trip photos.

Students in the program, called "Creating a Usable Past: A Study of the Civil Rights Movement," have been meeting since April to learn about key figures and events in preparation for the tour.

"From my perspective, I think the civil rights movement is the most important stretch of history over the course of the 20th century," said Michael Thompson, a history professor at Pfeiffer who initiated the Stratford YMCA's civil rights program in 2009 and will lead the program's second tour this year.

Organizers didn't want to highlight the importance of events that occurred in other cities without including a lesson on the struggles for equality here at home.

Before the panel spoke, Geordea Herron, 17, already knew key details about how each of the speakers figured into Charlotte's history.

"You can see the videos and look at pictures," the Victory Christian Center School student said.

"It's different when you hear about it from people...who were there."

Hearing each of them explain how they worked for equality and justice reminded Sydney Espy, 13, who will enter Myers Park High School in the fall, of how much others sacrificed for the rights they enjoy today.

"If the civil rights movement didn't happen," she said. "I'd probably have a completely different life."
 

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