Isaac Sotelo, a senior at Kentwood High School, was selected as a youth to represent Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) and the Ninth Congressional District in the recent Faith and Politics Institute Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage.
Thirty members of Congress, representing both political parties and the House and Senate, visited historically significant sites in the nation’s Civil Rights history. Congressional members and their guests travelled to Memphis, Tenn., Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma, Ala., March 1-4.
Sotelo, an Institute for Community Leadership student, has led numerous civic engagement projects over the past four years. He played a fundamental role in establishing a student-led voter registration drive at Kentwood. Sotelo also teaches nonviolence classes for the institute throughout the year.
This year marked 50 years since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tenn. The delegation placed a wreath at the Lorraine Motel and toured the National Civil Rights Museum. From there, the delegation travelled to Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma, visiting with people who participated directly in the major events that helped create the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“It is crucial to be engaged in our community,” Smith said. “It not only strengthens the community but the structure of our democracy. Through this important work, as individuals we are able to better understand the needs of others and embrace other’s differences. Community engagement has sparked some of the most significant movements in our history, such as the Civil Rights Movement, which was been the primary driver of racial equity for African-Americans.”
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