Three ASC students who were expelled in 1961 for participating in demonstrations talked to students about their experiences.
ALBANY, GA -- Three Albany State College students who were expelled in 1961 for participating in Civil Rights demonstrations returned to the campus to tell their stories and share their experiences.
The ASC 1961 student activists Andrew Reid, Dr. Janie Rambeau and Donchester Johnson spoke about their experiences protesting during the Civil Rights Movement and being kicked out of Albany State because of it.
“I’m very proud to have been there in the 1960s, help participate in it and live long enough to see the fruits of our labor,” says Reid, who was a business management major. “There’s so many things that I could not do and I’m sure that they (students) could not do today had we not done those things back in the 1960s.”
These Civil Rights activists spoke about the walks they participated in.
“I was determined we were going to do something to turn things around,” says Rambeau.
They say they remember when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Albany when the Albany Movement picked up speed.
During walks and demonstrations, Johnson, ASC's first drum major, says singing songs like “We Shall Overcome” helped give them motivation and pep.
The panelists also answered questions from students and staff.
ASU is commemorating those who were kicked out of Albany State in 1961 with various events like these for the rest of the school year.
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