| campus to community |
Justin Armstrong (right) and other classmates at the Fannie Lou Hamer Institute Summer Workshop, “The Southern Civil Rights Movement: The Pivotal Role of Young People,” listen intently during a presentation. Justin, an 11-year-old from Byram, Miss., was elected president of the camp.
Fannie Lou Hamer Institute
An education in civil rights Summer camp gives youth new perspective on past struggles by shelia byrd
J
ustin Armstrong admits his civil rights history was limited before he attended a summer camp sponsored by Jackson State University’s Fannie Lou Hamer Institute. “I didn’t know that much because I just got out of elementary school,” said the 11-year-old who lives in Byram, Miss. Now, he’s confident about his knowledge of the civil rights movement and the role Mississippians played in the struggle for equality. Justin is among 22 students from the Jackson metropolitan area who
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participated in the institute’s summer youth workshop, “The Southern Civil Rights Movement: The Pivotal Role of Young People.” The workshop is held each year to educate youth about civil rights history and democracy and to teach them how to affect change in their communities, said Keith Lamont McMillian, currently interim director with the institute. This year’s workshop garnered the attention of NPR, which featured a story about the program on its show All Things Considered.