He felt a mixture of sadness that day at feeling left with no other recourse, but excitement, too, and faith. Fifty years later, standing again at the school, a ribbon cut moments earlier opening the building as a museum on civil rights in education, Stokes felt the anniversary was truly golden. The 50th anniversary celebration had begun on Sunday. in pulpits and in pews across the community, pastors and congregations joined in prayer and song, sermon and psalm, a movement of healing and reconciliation that flowed into Sunday's community-wide service focused on the 11th chapter of Isaiah. Children like Stokes and his twin sister, Carrie. You know the old saying, that words are cheap.
Actions speak louder than words.
The white community, Watson said, referring to the number of whites involved in turning the Moton school into a museum, has spoken with its actions. From left are museum board president Samuel V. Wilson, board member and Martha E. Forrester Council of Women member Vera Allen, museum board past-president Thomas Mayfield, and John Stokes, on of the leaders of the historic student action, who spoke during Monday's ceremony. I think by their actions the white community has already apologized. Not just for Virginia, but for the nation. These African American children set in motion one of the most powerful movements in American history since the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War.