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In December, students traveled to Jackson, Mississippi, a city that played a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement and was a hub for young activists during that time. While other alternative break trips are more community service focused, this trip allowed students the opportunity to learn more about Jackson’s history, gain exposure to the city’s current social issues and encourage their ongoing involvement in social change.. 

Students visited Jackson State University to learn about the Historically Black College/University (HBCU) and the campus’s tragic shooting through the lens of two survivors. On May 15, 1970, highway patrol and city officers opened fire on a group of students, killing Phillip Gibbs, a Jackson State student, and James Green, a high school student, and injuring several others. One of the first sites the students visited was Alexander Hall, where the shooting occurred. 

Similar to the tragic events of May 4,1970, when the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of demonstrators peacefully protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State, Jackson State students were also exercising their First Amendment Right to assemble.

Survivors Galia Porter and Lap Baker explained that the shooting at Jackson State had little to do with the Vietnam War protests and more to do with the growing tension between the predominantly white citizens of Jackson and the Black students at Jackson State. In 1970, many white citizens drove down John R. Lynch Street and past the university to get to their jobs downtown, and Jackson State students reported incidents where they were nearly run over by white drivers while on their way to class or their dorm in Alexander Hall. There were also instances of physical and verbal violence directed at Black students at the traffic light near Alexander, as passersby would yell racial slurs or throw glass bottles at students outside.

James Green, one of the students who was murdered, was only 10 yards behind Baker. Across the street, Porter stood near a glass window, too shocked to move. She was pushed through a window onto the ground and shielded while the shooting took place. She had surgery to remove shards of glass from her body. 

Isaiah Allen, an 18-year-old Kent State freshman and health services administration major, was moved by the survivors’ shared memories of that fateful day. 

“It was just amazing to see that despite what they went through, they are still very positive,l had a smile on their face and are open to sharing what happened that day.”

Students also engaged with community activists during a panel discussion about the current state of Jackson, including the ongoing pursuit to disinvest from the city and the water crisis. Jackson is a predominantly Black city with an inadequate and unsafe water supply. Students had an open discussion with three panelists, Arekia S. Bennett-Scott, executive director of Mississippi Votes, Maisie Brown, Jackson State student, undergraduate intern at the ACLU of Mississippi and spokesperson for the ongoing Jackson water crisis, and Representative Zakiya Summers of the Mississippi House of Representatives District 68, to help them better understand the water crisis from a political perspective.

Bennett-Scott informed students of Jackson’s water distribution processes and facilities that are severely outdated and in need of better management. Unfortunately, the state has yet to fund these projects in Jackson, the state’s capital.

During the trip, students also visited historical sites in Jackson, including the Mississippi Civil Rights and Smith Robertson museums, the Greyhound Bus Station where 27 Freedom Riders were arrested and the home of Medgar Evers, a prominent southern civil rights activist who was murdered in his driveway. 

Several students who participated in the alternative winter break are eager to apply what they’ve learned. Anaya Spencer, junior public health major, felt the trip put things in perspective for her.

“You’re experiencing different things that might possibly be life-changing,” Spencer said. “These experiences can change your whole perspective in life, your career goals and what you want to say or do when you get back to campus.”

Jade Swan, a neuroscience major, had a similar sentiment.

“This trip really brought the past to the present and made me realize that there isn't a time frame for change to occur,” Swan said. “It could take a year or a decade, and you might not even live to see it, but your effort will never be forgotten.”

Alternative break trips allow students and staff to open themselves to different perspectives and ways of thinking, an essential part of not only learning but of life. Being the youngest student on the trip, Allen encourages more first- and second-year students to take advantage of alternative break trips.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be Jackson, but any alternative break allows students to apply what they learn on the trip in the classroom. Seeing these situations in the real world, taking it back to Kent and applying it toward the curriculum is a really unique opportunity.”