Growing up in Harlem, New York, GateWay Community College TRIO Director Ila Washington, marched alongside her father during the Civil Rights Movement.
“We marched side by side with Adam Clayton Powell, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King,” says Washington. “Whenever they were speaking somewhere, my father was there. I would go because I was daddy’s girl and where daddy went, I went.”
Washington’s father, a minister, along with her mother and brother were all involved. “I remember us all marching together with our signs and we were chanting, “Oh, freedom! Oh, freedom! Oh, freedom over me!” says Washington. “It was fun. I never really understood the danger. I figured if my parents were with me, and I was surrounded by all these other adults, there was no danger.”
Her parents sent her to the “better schools” in uptown New York to make sure she received a good education, however, since Black History wasn’t taught there, her father and his associates started “Freedom School.” For years, Washington and her brother attended “Freedom School” every Saturday for a few hours at a neighborhood church in Harlem.
“Japanese, White, African American and Hispanic people came together and actually taught us Black history,” says Washington. Students learned by putting together plays, attending lectures and being questioned and drilled. After class, students were rewarded by being allowed to skate at the gym.
In addition to attending “Freedom School,” Washington’s parents also made sure she learned her family history, including her parents’ upbringing and the challenges they faced.
“When I got to high school I started really taking a look at what my dad was talking about,” says Washington. “Then I started putting together all the information he was giving me when he took us to his home in the South and showed us how he was living and the fields they worked in. It started clicking, but it was still foggy. So I’m thinking, ‘Ok that was their time, this is my time. Eh, I don’t have to worry about it.’”
It was during a visit to her grandmother’s house in South Carolina that she recalls her first experience with discrimination.
“My brother and I got out of the car and were running toward the water fountain,” says Washington. As her mother called for them to stop, they instead kept going.
“She screamed and screeched like we never heard. She said, ‘Read the sign.’ It said, ‘Whites Only.’ We walked back to the car real quiet and sat there in total silence because we were shocked.”
During her freshman year of high school, Washington attended a predominantly White school. By her sophomore year it changed to predominantly Black. “That’s when I realized, something is going on that I’m not understanding and then I started taking more notice of what my mom and dad were talking about,” says Washington.
At school, Black students were getting arrested. “We were actually rioting because we were not getting what the other schools were getting,” she says.
Throughout her upbringing, Washington’s parents instilled the importance of education. Washington was also involved in the Civil Rights Movement during her college years; however, she noticed that students still seemed to segregate themselves. Washington says she preferred getting to know everyone, regardless of color.
Washington also remembers the values her father instilled in her. “He said to be proud of who you are. Make sure you know your heritage. Know where you come from, know where your forefathers come from and move forward, but don’t keep it to yourself.”
Washington says the reason her father didn’t send her to school in Harlem is because he wanted her to get familiar with the rest of the world and be engaged with everyone else.
“I promised my dad before he passed that I would start “Freedom School” number two in Arizona,” says Washington. “So it’s something I’m going to eventually have to follow through on. We need to learn from one another so we can stop all of this bickering between ourselves… and maybe, just maybe, the world would be a little better place. That’s my hope.”