By JADA LEMOS
Staff Writer
On Tuesday, February 1st, I was honored to represent El Diamante at the African American Student Leadership Conference at a church near Ridgeview Middle School along with the many African American students at school. I want to thank Brandon Gridiron and DeShonda Williams, El Diamante’s school counselor, for joining us during this amazing trip. Here’s how that Tuesday went by.
When we got to the church, we were instructed to go to a room to watch a video regarding our black excellence. The video displayed students from Edison High School in Fresno, and what they think about our excellence. They gave examples of how to show our excellence, even if it was just walking a little bit taller.
After the video, we branched out into separate rooms that talked about different topics, from praising black men and women, to how to get a good education as proud black people. We went through two sessions of our own choice. This was a good way to branch out to other students from El Diamante and other schools that joined us.
When those two sessions were done, we went outside to have lunch together. They gave us T-shirts and all the things we need to better ourselves and show off our pride. To be honest, sitting outside was troublesome, as it was very cold. Either way, the services and discussions we had were very interesting.
Gridiron mentioned that the first desegregated school was in fact in Visalia, California. In the late 1800s, Edmond Wysinger went to the Supreme Court (Wysinger v Crookshank) to have a school desegregated for his son. To his surprise, they actually desegregated the school. It’s quite ironic, since most people hear about desegregation happening around the 1960s, but the first-ever desegregated school was in 1888. On top of that, it happened right here in Visalia.
Overall, the trip was really fun, and it taught me a lot of things that I don’t think anyone really knew about. If I could go back in time to do this trip again, I would. I met a lot of people like me and had lots of discussions that were definitely needed. Once again, I’d like to thank everyone who put this trip together, and everyone who participated. Happy Black History Month! 🙂