Post-Production Report
CDBIII Players
Black History Month
South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice
FEBRUARY 17, 2005
On February 16, 2005, at 2pm, seven students accompanied and traveled with assistant professor Charles Brooks, in a Benedict College vehicle, to Willow Lane Chapel, on the Willow Lane Campus of DJJ (South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice), with two students arriving in their own transportation, making the students total to nine in attendance.
Our purpose, vision, and mission, as CDBIII Players, is being “committed to creating a better world through the discovery and application of knowledge and committed to facilitate the empowerment, enhancement, and full participation of African Americans in a global society, becoming powers for good.”
Therefore, we undertook the task to share our purpose, vision, and mission with 150 incarcerated juveniles within DJJ, on Broad River Road. Our introduction underscored the mountains we climbed, valleys and deserts we crossed, wide rivers we crossed just to get to Benedict College, and that we were not going to let anything, any place, or anybody turn us around, as we encouraged 140 black males to struggle to obtain educational goals. We were certain that the ten white juveniles paid attention as well.
Consequently, African American males and females are over representative in the juvenile justice system. In the year 2004 alone, “in South Carolina 43% of all arrests and 60% of all admissions to juvenile institutions were African American males and females. Because of this injustice, it is imperative to ensure that these youth gain knowledge of our culture and historical roots, stated Kathy Byrd-Bryant, Program Director, the hope is to aid in increasing the self-esteem of the youth.”
We, CDBIII Players, agreed that this gave us an opportunity to reach down our hands to young boys finding their way through life and to pull them up to a conscious level of thinking, as well as, to become strengthened by the experience to go onward to endure hardships and barriers that confronts us on a daily basis. We presented a video of our spring 2004 production of “Affairs of Our Ancestors” that reminds us of the legacy each generation must fulfill and perform as we eventually will reunite in the “spiritual realm.”
Afterward, one by one, each student gave a testimony of situations and circumstances they came from under to get to Benedict College, their purpose, vision and mission in their lives to affect and effect change in their lives and the lives around them. I knew my students were special; I did not how special until I heard their testimonies. The juveniles and I sat in awe and gave thundering applauses. In the end, nine clusters of juveniles and students met in discussions as to how to prepare for Benedict College and other life issues. The juveniles shared their cake and drink with us, then waved goodbye as we prepared to return to campus for our 6pm rehearsal for our spring 2005 stage production of Day of Absence by Douglas Turner Ward. |
