"My name is Markisha Motton and I am 13 years old. I am in the honors program at Franklin Middle School. I like to think of myself as outgoing and very gregarious."

Markisha interviewed Ivon Ridgeway, John Lee Johnson, Martel Miller, and Hattie Paulk.

Markisha Motton

Tamika Lee

Deanna Carr

Jessica Austin

Tiera Campbell

Yakera Barbee

Veronica Martin

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Ivon Ridgeway is a radio announcer and cab driver. He was among the first group of Black school children to be bused from the north end to the south end of town to desegregate the schools.

listen to the Ivon Ridgeway interview

read the interview transcript

Interview highlights:

"If you grew up in the African-American community...there were all types of role models..."

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listen to the John Lee Johnson interview

read the interview transcript

Interview highlights:

"There was not racial hostility between us because we were different colors..."

"When our school district responded to Brown...what they did was they tore down all the inner-city schools..."

"There was one white family that lived on the fringe of our neighborhood...I spent a great deal of time in their home, they treated me like I was their kid..."

"I came up at a time in which you did not question your parents, you did exactly what they told you to do and when they told you to do it..."

"We didn't have libraries, we didn't have recreational facilities..."

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Martel Miller was born in Champaign in 1960 and was one of the first group of Black school children to be bused from the north end to the south end of town to desegregate the schools. He is an educational consultant.

listen to the Martel Miller interview

read the interview transcript

Interview highlights:

"For Black History Month I brought some books in to school...when I showed (the teacher) he knocked them on the floor..."

"I would tell them respect yourself...if you don't respect yourself, you won't never get respect...and get the best education possible."

"We had to wait for the bus...from 7:30 to 8:15..."

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Hattie Paulk is the director of the Champaign Schools Family Information Center and is also an ordained minister. She was one of the first African Americans hired in local department stores after African-Americans picketed those stores in the late 1950s over their hiring practices.

listen to the Hatte Paulk interview

read the interview transcript

Interview highlights:

"The teacher got her a biology book...and said 'see look at this: you can't do this..."

"Some of the things I used to hear is don't you trust those white people because you know they're not going to do us right..."

"During my teen years, African-Americans were not allowed to sit at the lunch counters here in Champaign-Urbana, so I was part of that movement where we picketed..."

"Are African American children worse off now that in the early 1950s? A discussion between Markisha Motton and Veronica Martin after their interview with Hattie Paulk"

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