April 4th Foundation Events

Footsteps Youth Leadership Summit on Civil Rights is designed to fulfill the mission of the April 4^th Foundation, “Tell the Story and Pass it on…..”

This past summer 20 High School students participated in the inaugural Footsteps Youth Leadership Summit on Civil Rights. Participants were selected from the following churches: Brown Baptist, First Baptist Broad, Golden Gate Full Gospel Baptist Church, Keel Avenue Baptist Church and Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church.

Footstep participants studied the events and the lives of Civil Rights Leaders and Organizations that were active in the 1968 Sanitation Strike. Participants visited historical Mason Temple, the Lorraine Motel, the National Civil Rights Museum, and the Four Way Grill Restaurant. The Memphis Redbirds held a special luncheon in their honor at Autozone Park. Footstep participants were also blessed with the opportunity to meet and sit at the feet of living legends: Reverend Samuel Billy Kyles, who was standing on the balcony with Dr. King when he was assassinated, and Mrs. Hattie Jackson the wife of Pastor H. Ralph Jackson and the author of, “65 Dark Days in 68.”

The inaugural class was challenged to think and to put into art their own Footsteps. Each participant brought a shoe to class and painted a picture of the past, the present, and their glorious future on the shoe.

The 2009 Footsteps Youth Leadership Summit on Civil Rights promises to be just as exciting. This summer members of the inaugural class and the 2009 class will participate in a weeklong learning experience. Registration and nominations for the 2009 class begins May 4, 2009.  For more information please visit out website at www.april4thfoundation.org