Thank you to the GAABSE members who made special sacrifices to make this journey a success. Thank you to Edwin Hood and Phyllis Williams for their hard work and dedication in planning this trip. Special thanks, the incredible Mary Whitt for her diligence in making this trip a success. Mary was instrumental in securing educational tours in the area.
I look forward to the next trip.
]]>The time is currently 9:47PM EST and we are in North Carolina. we are about 300 miles away from Atlanta. So that is about 16 to 17 hours left. Whew, talk about being tired. I can not wait to see everyone!
]]>Hello bloggers and I hope you are doing well. The current time is now 9:43PM EST and I am sitting here just reflecting on the day. Today began with our Congressional Hearing in the House of Reps. We were given some histroy of the room by one of the secret service agents before the hearings began. Just before they began, we had the opportunity to see Sheila Jackson Lee, the congresswoman from Texas and the one who gave us the tickets for the hearings. Of course we did not think she would even see us sitting in the general public area, but with our red shirts! Eventually she walked over and looked up and waved. She asked if we were from Texas and we said yes. She told us not to leave because when she was finished with her 1 minute speech, she was going to come and talk to us. Can you believe that she came up and shook our hands and just talked to use about what we were seeing. I mean, this is probably one of the most famous congresswomen of all time and our students, your children, had the opportunity to meet her face to face! Just an amazing moment.
Before we went to the Capitol, we went to the White House and took some pictures. We took a group photo and then had each student take a photo by themselves. Yes, they are in front of the White House. Just simply amazing.
We again headed to Baltimore to tour Morgan State University. This tour lasted about 2 hours before we boarded the bus to come back to the hotel. Once we arrived at the hotel, we had a debriefing session in the conference room. We talked about Morgan and what they saw as well as what they learned. Many of the students really touched me by what they said they learned. Some of the students said that they learned a lot about themselves. They said that they now know the importance of focusing on school and being able to get out of what they normally know and experience the world. One of the students said that she learned a lot about herself because before this trip, she never was able to just open up and become friends with people she did not know, but loved everyone on the trip and she was happy about that. Another student said that before this trip, they never knew exactly what an HBCU was nor did they understand the importance, but now, it all makes sense.
The parents and chaperons then got up and told the students how proud of them they were. The young men stepping up and actually opening doors and showing women respect. The young ladies beginning to understand that they are not what the radio and TV says they are…You know the b and the h word. Ultimately, the goal of the trip was met and we still have three more schools to go, Hampton, Fisk, and Tennessee State.
Well good people, this is the last blog because we check out at like 5:30AM EST and head to Hampton, VA at 6. We will then be going to Virginia Beach to let them experience a major famous beach. It has been a long road, but we will be seeing you soon at the Special Events Center. I am going to be putting up some more pics on the site when I get back so do not worry. Also, I have one request from you as parents; I want to keep in touch with the students and monitor their grades and make sure they are doing what they need. What do you think? I also offered them the a recommendation letter for college with the time comes. This has been a great group and I wish them all the best of luck, but they will be truly missed. The time is now 9:02PM EST and I have to finish packing and loading the bus, so until next time…
]]>Today was the greatest day of the trip,It was a day to reflect on what would be now just a few years before i planed on running for a political office.Today we went to the capitol this wasn’t a regular tour ,we actually went into the House floor where bill are introduced and are debated on the floor,many of you saw this place first ,when President Obama gave his first State Of the Union Address,Now when you see this place on T.V. ,you would think that it would be Huge However i can finally say that i saw this place andd it isn’t big at all. But the greatest part of this experience was when ,Congresswomen Shealia Jackson-Lee came off the floor and came and greeted us in the balcony,it was breath taking , Many of you know her for Michael Jackson Memorial ,she have an awsome speech,but anyway during this time she also told us about this new health care bill that she has introduced to the house,i would tell you more ,but i’m not at liberty to discuse those issures ,lol no just kidding thats another blog. ]]>
Hello all. I hope this finds you in good health. The current time is 12:09AM EST. I am sorry I am just getting to this, but I am so tired it is not even funny. Today was not as hectic as some of the other days. We had three activities today. When we left this morning at 6:30, we headed to the great state of Delaware. The college, Delaware State University. The students met with counselors and recruiters and found out a plethora of information regarding the admission process. For example, DSU has a GPA admission requirement of 2.0 as well as SAT score of 800. Writing is not an area that most colleges look at. The belief of this University is that you will not be deprived of an education. The counselor talked about the Alphabet and specifically told students that the more A’s that you have, the less it costs to go to college. We also went on a tour of the University and guess what else? We ate lunch in the Café! Talk about flashbacks of my days in college, lol. Anyhow, after DSU we drove an hour and a half south to Coppin State University. This is a small school as we only spent approximately one hour at this campus. The reason for this was because we had an appointment to see the Famous Blacks in Wax Museum.
Although there was an entry fee of nine dollars per person, GAABSE received some donations and was able to pay for all of the participants entry fee. We spent a great deal of time in this museum and I think it best that you ask your child exactly what they learned and how they felt about this wax museum. It is a great museum that I wish there were more around the country so that more could experience.
Next, we headed to the Baltimore Inner City Harbor. We were here for approximately one hour. This allowed for the students to walk around and get something to eat. There were a lot of street performers, calypso music players, steel drum band, and the list goes on. This was great because it allowed the students to see diversity of culture. Of course to some of them, it was all about the shopping. Hey, who can be mad?
We left the inner harbor at 8:30PM and arrived at the hotel at 9PM. We then had a debriefing meeting and headed to the rooms.
Guess what????? I have some great news. There are some pictures posted on the website. If you go to gaabse.net (home page) and look on the left, you will see a link that says JOIN THE JOURNEY. This is where you can find the pics. Just click the link and scroll down. Right now there are only 12 pics on the site. I have to add some more.
Well, the current time is now 12:23AM EST and we have to leave once again at 7AM. I know when we get back home, I am going to need a day to just sleep!!! Until next time….
]]>Thank you GAABSE for bringing this dream to fruition. You are to be commneded for this monumental effort.
And thanks to my daughter, Carren Brown, and all of the young men and women who are actively participating in this trip; forging memories never to be forgotten, dreaming educational and civic goals for their precious futures and being the exceptional examples of what our children are capable of not only in our communities, but throughout this country and around the world.
May God continue to richly bless each and every student, faculty, parent and everyone who has been involved in this endeavor in any way.
We love you Carren! See ya in a few days.
]]>Thank you Mary, Phyllis & Edwin for taking these awesome pictures and documenting this fantastic experience!
