story

Hey STORY Collaborative'peeps...
Here are some inspiring words coming out of the his/herstory of the Highlander Center ...

Founded in 1932 in Monteagle, TN, by Myles Horton and Don West, and relocated in New Market, TN in 1972, Highlander Research and Education Center has always been dedicated to the belief that working-class people can learn to take charge of their lives and circumstance. As aptly stated in the title to Myles Horton's autobiography, Highlander has been in the struggle for social justice and participatory democracy for The Long Haul (Horton 1990). The praxis at Highlander is guided by a concern for social justice and an understanding of the need to reorient society from an autocratic, authoritarian bias, to an egalitarian, participatory democracy. Horton believed that the reason Highlander has been so successful is ". . . that you have to trust the people, you have to love the people, and you have to care for the people. You have to practice what you preach with people" (Conti and Fellenez, 1986:15). As a central location in which marginal groups carry on the struggle for a democratic society, and as a well-known place of resistance, Highlander offers insights into many of the principles of popular education.

The power comes from the people, and when you get a person sufficiently oppressed, they're going to rise. It's just like you put a kettle on the fire and put an airtight cover on it and flame underneath--after awhile it's going to explode, and it's go ing to have an effect.

Elizabeth Cousins Rogers, lifelong activist, New Orleans, LA
Southern Exposure, Vol. X, No. 2, March/April, 1982, p. 20

 

This struggle is like a relay race--you run as far as you can, and then you pass the stick on.

Lena Taylor, Mississippi Association of State Employees, Jackson, MS
Southern Exposure, Vol. XVII, No. 1, p. 8

If you left a light on the hill some younger person is gonna' be inspired later on to come on and pick this torch up and keep it moving.

Sally Mae Hadnott, community organizer and president, Autauga County NAACP, Prattville, AL
Southern Exposure, Vol. IV, No. 4, p. 22

I am so very thrilled and honored to be meeting all of you soon in TN, learning more about your stories and visions for ending the war, and reconnecting with the roots at the Highlander Center. We have come down a long road and we stand on the shoulders of giants--at a cross roads as the younger generation, facing down the agendas of empire and the profittering war machines...and so we have new roads to make together...so let's get walking! See you at Highlander!

~Doyle, smartMeme collective/STORY Program