William Winter Institute gives students civil rights education

The William Winter Institute concluded its Summer Youth Institute (SYI) leadership and community building camp Monday.

“The Summer Youth Institute came together after conversations with high school students from the Jackson-metro area,” Patrick Weems, Youth Coordinator for the Winter Institute and director of the SYI, said.

Weems said the Civil Right Civil Liberties club, a high school group composed of students from St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, Jim Hill High School and Murrah High School, expressed interest to come together with other students from around the state who are actively having conversation about social issues and taking direct action in their community.

The camp took place on the Ole Miss campus and included three field trips to Philadelphia, Jackson and the Mississippi Delta to learn about civil rights history.

“The trips were meant to empower youth and encourage kids to apply what they learned in their own communities,” Weems said.

In Philadelphia, SYI participants visited the site of the 1964 murder of three civil rights workers, which was documented in the movie “Mississippi Burning.”

They also met with members of the Philadelphia Coalition, a group of citizens dedicated to bringing Philadelphia together for racial reconciliation, who later helped bring the perpetrators of the 1964 murders to justice.

The students presented local projects at the Evers International Airport during their visit to Jackson and met with local non-profit organizations.

In the Delta, participants went to Money, Miss. to the site where Emmett Till was murdered in 1955 after allegedly whistling at a white woman. SYI participants also met with the Emmett Till Commission, which is working to restore the courthouse where Till’s trial took place.

Twenty-eight rising high school sophomores and juniors from across the state participated in the SYI and posted their thoughts on the institute’s blog, which can be found at summeryouthinstitute.blogspot.com. SYI was free to the participants, thanks to a Kellogg Foundation grant.

The camp was composed of workshops taught by current Ole Miss students and former William Winter interns, and focused on community building, as well as the importance of storytelling, media and fund-raising.

“I enjoyed getting to talk to youth leaders in Mississippi about using the arts as a method of empowerment and social change,” Douglas Ray, Ole Miss English professor and SYI guest speaker, said.

“They were an engaged, interested and interesting group of people. I am excited to see the work of the Winter Institute in exposing these young people to people and programs which allow them to realize their potential.”