A Heritage Of Silence

The drive from Palm Beach to Florence AL was ,well, long. After the six of us that were arrested were released we hoped on the bus and drove till about 9 that night and stopped in south Georgia at a motel just long enough enough to sleep and get back up. The next we morning we dragged ourselves out to the bus and rode for another day to a small town in AL where we were offered true southern hospitality by a couple by the name of Fran and Apple. These ladies were a real treat. Hanging out, relaxing eating food and sharing stories with them was awesome. They even had us use markers to sign their garage with our names and messages from us. It was awesome to the the white walls transformed by us. By our words, our favorite quotes, the things that drive us to do this work.

We the headed into Florence AL where we were greeted and taken out to dinner by a couple who is involved in PFLAG and they told us their story of their son coming out and how they dealt with it. How they embraced him with open arms. In that moment I knew that while my own family was not as supportive it gave me hope that not all family's are like that.

We spent the next day at a local coffeehouse working and hoping for students to show up. One did. Against all the administrator told him, he showed up. Some of us sat and talked with him and heard his story and others worked on the things that we do that make the ride run just a little smoothly.

We got up and got ready the next morning and headed to Heritage Christian University. We stood by the roadside all day with not one student coming to speak to us. Katie, Taurett and Cait walked on to campus to deliver letters to the President and were arrested. We later found out that the campus had been put under lock down. So we stood as a silent force, to show the silence they people face day in and day out. We stood and had vile things shouted at us from passersby. We stood strong and silent.

As human beings we respond two ways, out of love and out of fear. I wonder how many more schools will respond out of fear to our message of hope and love?