Freedom Bus Tour Visits Three Schools in the East Bay

Stops at Berkeley High School, Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center (JJC)/Butler Academic Center, and Lorin Eden Elementary in Hayward.

The official AC Transit Freedom Bus embarked on its one-day Freedom Bus Tour at three school sites in Alameda County, each chosen based on their involvement with the Freedom Bus Project.

AHA! student artists posing with
the AC Transit Freedom Bus.

Berkeley High School's Arts and Humanities Academy (AHA!) produced the artwork that appears on the exterior of the Freedom Bus. Speakers included Superintendent Sheila Jordan, AC Transit Director Joel Young, ACOE Board of Trustee Joaquin Rivera, AHA! teacher Lauren Benjamin and student speakers. In honor of their contributions to the Freedom Bus Project, Berkeley High School was presented with framed photographs of the AC Transit Freedom Bus, which will be on display in the BHS' Administration Building.

Twenty-two students at the JJC's Butler Academic Center collaborated on the "Claudette Colvin" piece, which was one of the four winning entries in our K-12 Arts Competition, and was featured on the Freedom Bus Project's official poster.. The stop took place on the Juvenile Justice Center's baseball field, where Presiding Judge Trina Thompson Stanley and Alameda County Probation Chief David Muhammed spoke to the crowd of students and standing room and by invitation-only adults. Storyteller Awele Makeba performed Ms. Colvin's recounting of her civil disobedience and arrest at the age of 15 for not giving up her seat on the bus. Three of the young men who collaborated on the winning art entry spoke about their experience, and how empowering it was to learn about civil rights through the arts. Butler Academic Center was presented with a framed "Claudette Colvin" poster for display at the Juvenile Justice Center.

Lorin Eden YEP students with
the AC Transit Freedom Bus.

Hayward is home to the three remaining winners, with two attending Lorin Eden, and one attending nearby Southgate Elementary. All of the Hayward entries were created in the Youth Enrichment Program (YEP), Hayward Unified's after-school program, so the Freedom Bus stopped at Lorin Eden during YEP. Both Lorin Eden YEP and Southgate YEP were presented with framed copies of the poster featuring all four winning entries, which will soon be on display on 30 Clear Channel bus shelters across the AC Transit service district.

The AC Transit Freedom Bus is currently in-service, so look for it on a line near you! (Click here to find out which line it's on now!) The four winning arts competition entries are featured in our "Mobile Art Exhibit," now on display inside more than 200 AC Transit buses across the fleet.

Art Exhibition and Community Celebration was a complete success!

Official AC Transit Freedom Bus
featuring artwork by Berkeley High
AHA! students, Class of 2011

Thank you to everyone who came out on Friday night to make our event a success. Not only did the official AC Transit Freedom Bus make its debut, but we enjoyed amazing artwork and performances by local students.

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan was on hand, and enjoyed viewing the exhibited artwork and visiting with our student artists.

We honored all of our student artists with certificates of achievement, and presented the posters that will adorn more than 200 AC Transit buses as our Mobile Art Exhibit to our K-12 arts competition winners.

Alameda County Chief of Probation David Muhammed spoke about how proud he was that Butler Academic Center at the Juvenile Justice Center was selected to appear in the Mobile Art Exhibit. With three young men in attendance representing the 22 student artists who created the "Claudette Colvin" piece, which was also selected to appear on the Freedom Bus Project's poster, the Chief's words were even more powerful.

Mayor Quan and Superintendent and
Project Co-Chair Sheila Jordan

We also heard from Berkeley High School's Arts and Humanities Academy (AHA!) who contributed the artwork that appears on the official AC Transit Freedom Bus (see right), which is now in service. Durin gthe program Assemblymember Nancy Skinner (A.D. 14) presented AHA! with a certificate from the California State Assembly. AC Transit Interim General Manager Mary King provided an overview of how we took the artwork and transformed it into the bus wrap, the production and installation of which was generously donated by Titan Worldwide.

Head Royce Ninth Grader Rebecca Dharmapalan stunned the audience with her rendition of "A Change is Gonna Come." And Oakland School for the Arts theater students provided a heartwrenching reading of a scene from The Laramie Project, a play which depicts the town of Laramie, Wyoming following the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee's office presented a proclamation to the Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, who participated in the Freedom Rides, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this spring. Activists Gay Plair Cobb, Steve McNichols, Wazir Peacock, and Jimmy Rogers were hand to accept the proclamation on behalf of their organization.

Kala Art Institute and the Marin Center for Independent Living provided featured exhibits. Kala provided civil rights-inspired prints created by Berkeley High School students. Marin CIL lent five panels of their Disability History Exhibit, the fifth of which includes a photo of Dria Fearn, our Executive Director, in a picture of the California Youth Leadership Forum for Students with Disabilities.

A big thank you to Oakland School for the Arts for hosting our celebration, and Waste Management for sponsoring our reception with Mayor Jean Quan and Assemblymember Sandre Swanson.

Arts Competition Winners Announced!

By Students at
Butler Academic Center

Four exceptional entries chosen to appear on more than 200 AC Transit buses.

The winners of the K-12 arts competition are Isaiah (4th grade, Southgate Elementary, Hayward), Jessica (5th grade, Lorin Eden Elementary, Hayward), Lawrence (6th grade, Lorin Eden), and 22 students from Butler Academic Center at the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center (grades 7-10).

Honorable mention honors go to Marilyn (4th grade, James Madison Elementary, San Leandro) and Natisha (7th grade, Portola Middle School, El Cerrito).

Click here to view all winning entries and honorable mentions.

All participating students will be honored at our Art Exhibition and Community Celebration this Friday, March 25th, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at Oakland School for the Arts (530 18th St., Oakland, CA 94612). Click here for additional information.

March 25th Art Exhibition and Community Celebration at Oakland School for the Arts

Artwork by Berkeley High School's
Arts and Humanities Academy,
Class of 2011.

Join us in celebrating civil rights and arts education.

Art Exhibition and Community Celebration
The Power of One Inspires Change for All
March 25, 2011
Oakland School for the Arts
6:00 to 9:00 PM
Formal Program begins at 7:15.

Join us as we honor the student artists and the East Bay's legacy of civil rights and community activism. Check out the exhibition of submissions from our K-12 arts competition, the official AC Transit Freedom Bus, featuring artwork by Berkeley High School Arts and Humanities Academy students, and enjoy vocal and theatrical performances by local students.

This event is free and open to the public, and families are encouraged to attend, but we would appreciate your RSVP to event@freedombusproject.com.

Oakland School for the Arts is located at 530 18th Street in Downtown Oakland, and is accessible by AC Transit and BART.

Click here for additional information.