It was 1963, and Freeman A. Hrabowski III was a 12-year-old who didn’t want to be where he was — sitting in the back of a church in his hometown of Birmingham, Ala., in the middle of the week. But his parents brought a couple of his favorite things to placate him — peanut M&Ms and math problems. That evening would be life-altering.
Hrabowski is far removed from that difficult period during his childhood. Some six decades later, Hrabowski spent Friday morning delivering the keynote speech at the 2nd General Session of AASA’s National Conference on Education. His motivational speech emphasized the importance of public education and the power of storytelling during difficult times.
In continuing his tale, he related: “This man at the lectern says, ‘If the children participate in this peaceful protest, all of America will know that our children want a good education.” Hrabowski, now president emeritus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County after serving as president from 1992 to 2002, recalled the man looked up and said, “They’ll be able to go to better schools.”
That man in church was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and his statement piqued young Hrabowski’s interest. He was tired of leafing through old textbooks, all hand-me-downs from the city’s better schools, which were reserved for white students. So, with his parents' blessing, he participated in the protest. During the Birmingham Children's Crusade, Hrabowski was among the 600 children arrested that day. He’d spend a week in jail.
Hrabowski wants such stories to serve as ammunition in the struggle to preserve a strong public education system.
Public education is at a crossroads, he acknowledged, facing a myriad of challenges and stressors. But as educators navigate what’s next, stories such as the ones he shared are powerful and critical, Hrabowski said. They help shape our understanding of who we are as a society and individuals, especially as the country struggles to be more inclusive of all.
“When my students say to me, ‘Oh, things have never been so bad. We’ve never been so divided,’” Hrabowski said. “Yes, we have. I remember walking down Birmingham streets and not being able to go into stores or into movies. I remember not being able to drink out of water fountains. And, yet, I remember how much progress we have made as a country.”
That progress, however, wouldn’t have been possible without educators, he said. And educators play a crucial role in what comes next. “Yes, things are difficult,” he said. “But as leaders in public education, the language that we use, the way we interact with each other, the values that we hold will shape the culture of our society … We have a chance to change and shape the hearts and the minds of the people coming along.”
Hrabowski encouraged the audience to think about how they’ll motivate their own people, even as the future feels uncertain. “You are the ones who create the leaders and the citizens,” he said. “Own your role. … We must be passionate about education.”
When challenged by naysayers or people just not willing to listen, focus on the truth and the facts, Hrabowski said. There’s power in just being a good person too, willing to listen to people from all walks of life.
“As educators, we can reach people,” he said. “I reach so many of the students on my campus who are from conservative families by just being a decent human being and giving them a chance to look at the facts and to look into my heart to know I care. I think we can reach many people. I really do.”
(Sarah Lindenfeld Hall, a freelance writer in Raleigh, N.C., is a senior editor on Conference Daily Online.)
