Georgie's Thoughts

"On this trip you will be encouraged to be a sponge. Encouraged to forget all you know and solely absorb. Instead be a filter. Understand and enstill the information you are given, separate truth from emotional ........... Trust of your inmate sense of truth and justice." This was just one of the many quotes that were on the school bus we took on our first day in New Orleans in The Lower Ninth Ward. This trip was a very powerful and unforgetable experience. This was my first time down south and i loved it. The people i met were nice and welcoming. They didn't judge and just wanted to get to know you and get their stories to be heard.The most significant part of the trip for me was working with Nat Turner. I loved the fact that he was willing to give up everything he had just for a cause he believed in. It was inspiriing to me. He knew what he wanted and went for it. Through him i learned alot about New Orleans and the unlying truth of what really goes on behind the media. The most fun for me was getting to know the kids that were attending the Blair Grocery School. Although they did not say much they did have a lot to say. Before we left i found out alot about Terance and Ronaldo. I believe some people are simply misunderstood and from talking with them i got where they were coming from and what they were talking about. I mean these aren't just some illiterate bunch of kids but they are like every other kid in America they are just like me. Ronaldo showed me a rap video that he made and he was extremely good and Terrance spoke with me and from what i understood he just wants someone that would listen and understand him instead of just judging him. Shawtrice is a very intelligent person with a whole lot to say but i think she just wasn't completely comfortable around us. All they've had is a little bit of misfortune and it was fun to hang out with them and talk to them. It's like when you see one thing on tv and you have this judgement and then you go there and it's like, damn the media lied. They weren't bad or roudy but cool calm students just like us that are misunderstood and aren't given the true opportunities that are out there for them. Overall the most fun for me was helping out at the school and just talking with the students and seeing a different point of view on life rather than just where we come from. I came back with a lot of knowledge about New Orleans and the mistreatment that goes on there. I made new friends there and will be keeping in touch with them. Nat Turner said, If you have come to help me you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine then let us work together. I believe in what he is doing and i want to work together with him, a little help can go a far way. Life brings stuggles our way and it's just another obsticle to get through. Wish we had stayed a little longer, worked a little more....