History comes to life
<p>Dior Davenport speaks to River City Middle School students on the civil rights movement in honor of Black History Month Wednesday in Post Falls.</p>
POST FALLS - Ronnie Newman was shocked to learn what African Americans went through during the civil rights movement to gain the same rights as others.
Newman was among the eighth-graders at River City Middle School who watched Dior Davenport's graphic and emotional presentation called "The Right to Dream" recognizing Black History Month on Wednesday.
"It was amazing," Newman said afterward. "They really had to fight for their rights and freedoms."
In her 14 performances in local schools this week, Davenport, an actor from Seattle's Living Voices drama firm, portrays a young African American growing up in the South in 1965. She conveys the story of the struggle and sacrifice for freedom and civil rights through a fictional character with real life footage from the era on a screen behind her.
"We hope that students will continue to educate themselves and be knowledgeable about all aspects of humanity," Davenport said afterward.
The presentations are sponsored by the Human Rights Education Institute.
"If we ever end prejudice and bigotry, it's going to come through education," said Tony Stewart of the institute. "Young people will not forget this because the acting is extremely powerful. Every generation is getting better educated in the effort to eradicate (racism)."
Davenport displayed a pyramid showing that, from the top with political leaders and police, to the middle with the community and to the bottom with the Ku Klux Klan, that blacks had a difficult time gaining rights.
She called it a "vicious circle" because sometimes the police were also KKK members.
"Blacks didn't have the right to vote, so they couldn't change things to make a difference," Davenport said.
In the end, she said, non-violent protests such as speeches, marches and distributing pamphlets to encourage voters to register, made the breakthrough, Davenport said.
The violent images and Davenport's emotion drew a variety of questions from students, including whether whites were treated differently if they participated in the civil rights movement and how intimidated blacks felt.
When asked how many would make such sacrifices for their rights, about half of the students raised their hands.
"I'd be scared of dying," one girl said.
Student Shelby Scholl said she's thankful she saw the presentation.
"It reflected what happened and what black people went through," she said.