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Amity's Shirley Handy speaks on her historic civil rights activities
In 1963, Handy marched in the civil rights rally in Washington D.C. The young mother of two witnessed the "I Have a Dream" speech of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a speech that had a dramatic impact on how she looked at herself and all people of color. She recently spoke at St. Martin of Tours School in her grandson WilliamCrudup' s class. At the time she worked as an aide in a hospital and told the students that up until that time she thought it was normal to accept the fact that black people did not have the same rights as white people. With Dr. Martin Luther King's words echoing in her mind and heart: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal," Handy decided to challenge herself. She told the students she wanted more for herself and her children. She moved to New York and went to school. She settled on Long Island went to Farmingdale College and got an associates degree in nursing. Looking to go even further, she went to Molloy College and earned a bachelors degree. Following that, she attended Long Island University where she got her masters degree in education. Handy told the class how blessed they were to be free to sit with each other and to take care of each other. "It is now a world where Dr. King's dreams have come true," she said. He had a dream that his four children would one day live in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, said Handy. "Character is the most important part of who we are; it makes no matter what color we are, just what character we have."
Miss Handy is shown next to her grandson William along with his teacher Mrs. Nehr and some students in the class.
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