Transit Equity Day on Friday, Feb. 4 in
Charleston and the SC Lowcountry will offer supporters of better
public transit an opportunity to rise for a pancake breakfast, ride and remember Rosa Parks
on her birthday. Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit, Inc. will work
with transit advocacy groups in Columbia, SC, Atlanta and around the
World to renew the right to ride Rosa refused to surrender on that
dark bus in Montgomery.
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| Jenkins (in blue) Training BFLT Interns |
In Memory of Abe Jenkins- We will be dedicating this year's observance of Transit Equity day to the Memory of Abe Jenkins, who volunteered with our organization from time to time, supporting our work on the Sea Islands and mentoring some of our teenaged interns. Abe brought solid wisdom to our training sessions and attempted to persuade Jack to yell at the kids less. We will miss Abe greatly. Abe was the grandson of Civil Rights Leader Esau Jenkins who operated a private rural transportation system predominately used by African Americans. Abe knew Rosa Parks and many great leaders of that time. He carried the lessons learned from them in the midst of the great liberating struggle two decades into the 21st. Century.
Relevant Rosa
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| Mary Smith, dresssd as Syphide, at CHS Pride |
In a time when the very survival of
American democracy is threatened, opponents of Civil Rights
understand destroying transit neutralizes people who might reinforce
the continuing struggle for human dignity here in Charleston.
Deciding our planned rapid Transit line doesn't reach Summerville and
Lincolnville robs people who need transit there of their power to
make choices about their employment, healthcare and political rights.
As their lives become harder, gentrification can be accelerated to
that a citizens, white and black are so imprisoned by traffic
congestion and time lost on the roads that those purchasing control
of government can do what they like.
As CAJM has noted, Frequency is
Freedom. On her birthday, Rosa Parks reminds us we must be brave,
strategic and dramatic in our Transit Equity freedom struggle. We've
set major goals from improved transit service, better bus stops and
restoration of more of the I26 alt plan for the Lowcountry Rapid
Transit line for this year. That fight for freedom starts at
breakfast on Feb. 4.
Rise
with Rosa Pancake Breakfast
We'll be asking some local diners and
cafe's near our major bus lines to make and serve Rosa's own special
pancake recipe,
Rosa
Parks's Featherlight Peanut Butter Pancakes for breakfast that
morning. Well be livestreaming breakfast from outside Mini See See's Kitchen, sharing online pancakes and breakfast transit thoughts of the community with the world. Due to a scheduling conflict, JA Moore will hold the Berkeley County Rosa Parks Pancake Brunch on Saturday.
The price of your Rosa Parks Pay it Forward Pancake Breakfast includes a breakfast care package which will be delivered to local housing insecure persons, elderly and disabled people by our volunteers over the following weekend. We'll also be distributing some bus passes to those struggling, truely an empowering gift of freedom and dignity.
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| Mini Sue Sue's Kitchen |
North Charleston- Mini See See's Kitchen on River's Ave. will be serving Rosa Parks Pancakes from 8 am to 11 am. from their takeout kitchen at 3910 Rivers Ave, N. Charleston, ph
(843) 718-1278. Left side of Rivers Ave, North of Cosgrove Ave., on the #10 Bus Line. They're new and eager to build stronger connections to the community. This location is right on the main secton of the long promised and much delayed Lowcountry Rapid Transit Line.
Facebook signup for breakfast at Mini Sue Sue's Kitchen. Chris Jackson's
Together, We Go Forward Transcontinental effort launches at this location at 10 am.
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| Market St. Deli |
Downtown- The
Market Street Deli 76 N Market St, Charleston, SC 29401, (843) 577-8830 in will also be serving a pay it forward breakfast. It's located just a block from two stops on the DASH 211 Bus Line and the #20 upper King. Both buses are fare free. it's a delightful spot for both breakfast and lunch with a local owner and friendly, transit riding staff. Facebook signup for
breakfast at Marketplace Deli.
Breakfast for the Mayor of Summerville
A special pancake breakfast will be delivered to the Mayor
of Summerville at his office at Town Hall at 10:00 am by Linda Saylor, with
side orders of sausage, juice and demands for return of the planned Lowcountry
Rapid Transit Line to Downtown Summerville and a Freedom of Information Request
about the Town’s lack of effort to retain their transit connection to the
planned system and related issues. The breakfast will be delivered by
Summerville Juneteenth and the Alston Heritage Foundation and the Dorchester
Unit of Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit, Inc.
Return here for additional restaurants, food trucks and cafes all over the area. Get your pancakes. You are going to need the energy. It's going to be a big Friday and Brunch on Saturday Too
Ride
with Rosa
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| Chris Jackson with Ride with Rosa Poster |
We'll be asking CARTA to reserve a seat so
local Transit passengers can ride with Rosa, as they did last year, marking a seat on some
buses with a sign and a rose to remind our fellow transit riders of
the significance of that special day.
During the weekend
Christopher Jackson will launch a nationally sanctioned effort to help connect Transit Advocacy efforts across the US with the help of the Labor Network for Sustainability. While working as an over the road Truck Driver he'll cross the continent helping establish and encourage transit building efforts across the continental US, operating from bases in Charleston, DC, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area. The effort will begin at the Mini Sue Sue's Kitchen pancake breakfast on Rivers Ave. (See above) at 10 am.
Raise
Awareness with Rosa
During the day, we'll be
doing socially distanced transit outreach at bus stops about our
goals for better transit in the Lowcountry this year. We'll also be moving our ideas and demands for equity into the physical reality of the Lowcountry. Things will be done. Things will be made and happen which can be touched, felt and used. This is not just about words and ideas. You can't go anyone on those.
We're planning an action to challenge transit inequity in the Summerville, Lincolnville & Ladson area at 1 pm. The exact location will be announced at 6 am on the morning of Transit Equity Day.
These are our current goals for the 2022:
Secure another year
of bus service to the beach. Double ridership.
Support increasing
CARTA Ridership by 30%. Get more middle school aged students on
transit.
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| Improved Bus Stop in Mt. Pleasant |
Push the Lowcountry
Rapid Transit line terminus back North to Lincolnville, near the
Charleston County line, walking distance from Summerville. Read the details.
Obtain at least 10
more lighted and sheltered bus stops on the CARTA system, 2 on the
Sea Island LINK system and 2 in Summerville.
Support Christopher
Jackson, now a long haul truck driver, in a continental effort to
connect transit advocacy organizations across the nation is a
“Together We Go Forward.” campaign starting that day somewhere
out on the American road.
Fight to force local
governments to build the promised Lowcountry Rapid Transit line and
have it operational before work begins on widening I526. Details on this Issue and options for action.
Revel
with Rosa Birthday Party
Finally, we'll hold an
evening birthday party for Rosa Parks at The Blackstone Restaurant on Rivers Ave. where you'll be able to buy a
commemorative dinner supporting our efforts and have some of a
special birthday cake made for the occasion, provided in a way which
is safe in current pandemic conditions. This effort will honor the
Food and Beverage workers who ride transit and have supported our
local hospitality economy through the pandemic. Your host will be SC State Rep. Marvin Pendarvis.
We'll try to have drumming, music and spoken word performances focusing on social and economic justice starting at 6:30 pm. Everyone
participating in our effort should be masked, vaccinated or recently
tested and maintain social distance. We have a Facebook Event signup page for this event online.
We recognize a large indoor gathering with sit down dinner may not be possible. We'll do the best we can under the circumstances.
Remembering Rosa & The Lowcountry's Own Transit Heroes
Rosa Parks is most remembered as the woman who refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery Alabama, igniting the Montgomery Bus Boycott and launching the career of Civil Rights Titan, Martin Luther King. However her dedication to human dignity began long before that event and transcends the idealized fairy tale of a humble woman who was too tired to stand disseminated about her at the time. She was a battle hardened, trained activist who investigated lynching's in backwoods towns in the deep south, often working alone for the NAACP. She was an exceptional communicator, skilled at talking people down from anger and up from apathy. She was a successful seamstress. She was fashionable, creative and smart.Rosa Parks wasn't the first woman to refuse to surrender her seat on Southern public transit. African American women had been fighting for Transit Equity since 1867 when women like Mary Bowers in Charleston fought for and won their right to ride horse drawn streetcars. Other women in Montgomery has already been arrested. Parks brought nerve, a capacity for calculation and the ability to sustain a strategy to the fight for freedom. Her skills allowed her to survive the conflict at great personal cost. Other women, equally worthy, were nearly destroyed in similar circumstances. Sarah May Fleming fought for Transit Equity in Columbia, SC, won her court case but paid a terrible personal price for her stand.
Rosa reminds us that we must all fight, win and survive in our struggle for human dignity. Sacrifice alone is not enough.
Don't Give Up Your Seat, Together,
We Go Forward!
Completing this effort
while keeping everyone safe needs your input and support. We'll
update this blogpost with links to the particular events. Feel free
to contact William Hamilton wjhamilton29464@gmail.com
or (843) 870-5299 with your input. Complete information on all our
activities can be found at www.bfltransit.com.
Rise
with Rosa Pancake Breakfast
Revel
with Rosa Birthday Party
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