Day 30

Today Sandra Fleming, class of 1975, and her nephew, Meredith Owens, who attended Berea in 1989, joined the relay as we drove the Great Commitments to the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, TN. The Center is located on rolling farmland placed comfortably in the heart of the Smokies. Buildings with octagonal picture windows sprinkle the land. The view of the buildings when looking on them is equally as beautiful when gazing out of them. The Center brought a sense of comfort and ease; perfect to fill its purpose while teaching, educating, and inspiring. Charlie Biggs welcomed our group and we learned historical tid-bits of the Highlander Research and Education Center from the great legends and musicians, Guy and Candie Carawan.

The Highlander story is something of a phenomenon, with involvement and leadership action in the civil rights movement and the environmental justice movement. Since 1932, the center has been bringing together workers, grassroots leaders, community organizers, educators and researchers to address the most pressing social problems that face people of the South. The Center, with an accessible library and open rooms setup for full circle discussions, provides a perfect opportunity for people to gather and share information. As Charlie explained, “everyone comes to highlander with knowledge equivalent to a piece of the pie and leaves with the whole pie,” because everyone educates each other. Among those who shared education at the Center include Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and Guy Carawan. I know that I mentioned him earlier, but I must talk about him in detail to point out that the Berea College relayers were in the presence of a famous, history-influencing man!

In the times of the civil movement, the songs that people sang to confront racism in their communities were often older transformed songs. Among them is the famous song, “We Shall Overcome,” which originated from “I Will Overcome,” sang in many Methodist and Baptist churches. Guy Carawan succeeded the Horton’s who founded Highlander. Through his persistence in teaching “We Shall Overcome” to Highlander students and particularly leading the song among sit-in leaders at Shaw University in Raleigh, NC, the song became the signature song of the Civil Rights Movement! I could not believe that only moments before learning this information, I had grasped hands with him in meeting, fore I have before attempted to sing the song myself on several occasions.

In Berea, I have had the opportunity to participate in the Martin Luther King day celebration by marching from Union Church to the City Hall. With other members of the Berea community, I sang for freedom and human rights for all people. In the moments that I sang, I thought I understood the meaning of the song, “We Shall Overcome.” It wasn’t until visiting the Highlander Center that I came to understand the song’s value.

-Leaving Highlander with a few more pieces of ‘pie’/ knowledge.

Crystal