Amazing Person Connected to my Family Roots and His Work for the March on Washington: Mathew Ahmann.

When I was a very young kid during the 60's I remember some things that were not normal for a girl growing up in a very small, all white community, in the Midwest.

There are several very vivid memories that I have in regard to race that never made a great deal of sense to me, BUT I am pleased to remember them and talk about them.

1.  In a Catholic community with a few Lutheran's many Catholic children were literally not allowed to play with Lutheran children.  I remember playing with Lutheran kids and asking my parents why so and so said they were not allowed to play with us when we were with those kids.  Yep it is true.  Crazy but true. 

My parents said to ignore those comments and it was o.k., we are all the same.

2.  I remember my Dad sitting me down and talking to me about race.  He talked to us about skin color and how others would say people are not equal if they were a different color.  He made a point of discussing negative terms and that we should not use them and correct others when they used them.

I did hear others use the "N" word and I did correct them although it was not all easy.

3.  I remember my Grandparents giving us a "Julia" Barbie like doll for Christmas.  This was a likeness to Diane Carroll who played Julia on T.V.  She was a single black mother that was a nurse.  My sister and I loved those dolls.  I wish I still had mine.

4.  I remember my dad insisting we do cultural things like visit reservations to see and be a part of pow wows in Minnesota long before others did so. 

I believe that my parents were rather forward in their thinking because of the work of my Dad's cousin.  I never really put things all together until recently.

My Dad's father is from a very large family that was pretty close (10 siblings).  As adults all of the siblings would gather on Sundays at their parents home which included their children.  The cousins became fairly close.  As most of the cousins went to college, some stayed in the area and others moved away to do great things.

On October 14th my Dad's cousin Mathew Ahmann will be receiving a posthumous award, from St. John's University, in Collegeville, MN,  for his work in civil rights and the organizing of the "March on Washington".  At first I was reluctant to speak of him.  Even though his work was great, he was very humble, and did not try to draw attention to himself but the cause.  Who am I to claim a person that I only met as a child.  I know I could never live up to such greatness.  But as I have mentioned him to others; I am reminded that is also important to show that it is good to share about those that helped a cause that is progressing but still not fully complete.   A cause that has been going on for over 50 years. 

We often hear about the "Big 6", which were the original black organizers of the Freedom to work March.  Later 4 members were added representing faiths around the United States.  Matt Ahmann was one of those 4 men, representing the Catholic Church.  Here is a link to a recent story in the New York Times about the white involvement of the March. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/in-march-on-washington-white-activists-were-largely-overlooked-but-strategically-essential/2013/08/25/f2738c2a-eb27-11e2-8023-b7f07811d98e_story.html

Below is a picture of the organizers for the March.  Matt is the skinny one in the back left with the bow tie.

The following is a link to 11 of the main organizers for the march.  If you click on their picture it describes their involvement.


http://billmoyers.com/content/meet-the-march-organizers/

There are some great museums around the United State depicting the Civil Rights movement.  If you have never been able to visit them, do make a point of doing so.  I was lucky enough to chaperone a group of black students on a "Black College Tour"  several years ago.  During that time we took the students to see several museums.  Not only was it wonderful to visit these colleges but also see the students awakening while they absorbed the history and struggle of the civil rights movement. 

It is always important to move forward in a positive direction but sometimes we have to look back to remember how we got to the present day.  We need to look back to create a better future and example for those that follow us.  It is so nice to find a positive piece of history in a fairly remote family connection.  But really I can only smile and say, "HOW COOL IS THAT!"

With Love from your retired FACS teacher,

Jane