At the age of 13, Mamie Thompson was one of “Dr. King’s kids” supporting the boycott of segregated buses in Alabama.
“At the first mass meeting about the boycott, I was there,” she recalls. “My first cousin was Dr. King’s and Rosa Parks’ lawyer. Members of my family testified in court about the boycott.”
Today she teaches New York City students to respect each other’s differences through ADL’s A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute Peer Training program. A 25-year veteran of this program, she has impacted hundreds of students, preparing them to be Peer Trainers who help other students reject bias and make their schools more inclusive and comfortable for all.
“I have seen change occur in students almost overnight,” she says. “No other program has as profound an effect as ADL’s Peer Training program. I can’t praise it enough.”
From Alabama Buses to New York City Schools
There’s a direct link between Ms. Thompson’s work for equality in the 1960s and her Peer Training work for ADL.
“The leaders of the civil rights movement taught us that we could achieve our goals and also maintain our dignity as productive, educated citizens,” she says. “Non-violence was a critical strategy to the movement’s success.
“The principles that helped us be successful in Alabama are still relevant today,” she continues. “As an ADL facilitator, it is my responsibility to help the students in my workshops see the beauty in each of us, while at the same time learning to respect our differences.
“Our country has been able to excel, in part, because of our great diversity,” she concludes. “It is not necessary for us to always agree with each other. It is, however, imperative that we create an environment in which all people can safely and comfortably express their thoughts, so long as they do not infringe upon another’s God-given or constitutionally protected rights. It is crucial that we respect each other’s right to be different.”
