In collaboration with the Baserange Community, we had the absolute pleasure of speaking with JoAnne Bland, the co-founder of the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, Alabama and the youngest person to have been jailed during any civil rights demonstrations that took place in the 1960s. 

Growing up in Selma, Alabama, JoAnne saw first hand the deadly divide segregation created and aspired for freedom. She recalls one particular instance that encouraged her activism, when she was peering in the window of Carters Drugstore. JoAnne reflected, “I was looking at the white kids, wishing it was me. My grandmother noticed this and put her hand on my shoulder and leaned over and pointed through the window to the counter and said, ‘we would get our freedom. You can do that too.” JoAnne attributes this conversation with her grandma on that particular day to the day she became a “freedom fighter.”

JoAnne believes that it is important to have dialogue about where we stood in the 1960’s to gain perspective on where we are now:

“I think because of the blood of history that runs through your veins, hearing how we grew up and the things that were happening in the so-called free country, you can gauge how far we've come. It would be ludicrous to say that we haven’t made gains, but we still have gains to make,” said JoAnne.

JoAnne, particularly appreciates the level of impatience that many activists of younger generations have today:

“You live in this technical time where everything is instant, and I applaud you for that. I'm so proud of you guys for being out there, for taking up the torch and realizing that we're not where we need to be,” Joanne said.

Throughout the podcast JoAnne has many calls to action, including an analogy that particularly resonated with us: She explains, “Everybody is a piece of the puzzle to social change. It is you that determines where your piece fits in to complete the picture. And is the picture complete because your piece is not there? No. That means you are the most important piece. And from this moment on, you need to carry yourself like you're the most important piece, because you are.” 

We encourage everyone to think about what they want their piece of the social change puzzle to be so that you can help us complete the puzzle!! You might find some inspiration regarding “your piece” and where you “fit” by listening to our full discussion with JoAnne linked here.

Written by Isabella Harnick