By Greer Waldrop

Caitlin Swain-McSurely said she grew up with social justice in her blood. That may be an understatement for the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights representative, whose father was on trial for sedition while she was born.

Swain-McSurely, along with undergraduate interns from the University of Louisville, staff from the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research and other statewide organizations, developed the Kentucky Remembers! project, a summer camp aimed at educating high school students about historical struggles for human rights.

“On a national and global level we were losing great advocates of human rights, such as Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King. On the local level, social justice leaders like Anne Braden have passed away,” Swain-McSurely said. She added that she felt education was the way to honor the civil and human rights.

“I think because of the personal, human connection the kids made with people from history, learning became personal and they realized history affected them,” said Stevie Brown, an undergraduate history major and intern for the project.

This past summer was the charter summer for the camps, and U of L students gathered Thursday afternoon in the Chao Auditorium to present their experiences with the program.

“Because of the children’s youth, they allowed the interviewees to take control and tell their stories uninterrupted by targeted or intentional questions that an adult might have asked,” said Aaron Kicklighter, anthropology major. There were camps in cities all over the state from Paducah to Ashland.

The students were recommended by agencies such as the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club, and applied for spots in the program. “Our ultimate goal was to build scholar activists and have the students become the bridges,” Swain-McSurely said.

The Anne Braden Institute and the KCHR plan to continue the camps next year, and add a one week residential camp for five selected kids from the camps this summer, who Swain-McSurely say have been “bitten with the social justice bug.”

For more information on the Kentucky Remembers! project, visit the Web site at http://www.kchr.ky.gov/kyremembers.org.