Fajr's law

Continued from page 4 bussed by the companies they choose. At the least, the parents should be a part of the process and the discussions before contracts are awarded. And what I mean by full transparency is just keeping us up to date with what’s going on with the process.

“The Board should do full training courses for all the drivers and the aides according to the statutes. But also––in addition––the drivers and aides should each be trained in CPR and have current certifications on file for good record keeping that they can always, you know, go back to for future use.”

The current administrative code regarding training for school bus drivers and bus aides, N.J.A.C. 6A:27-11.3, only appears to require that they have training in student management and discipline, know bus accident and emergency exit procedures, and understand bus loading and unloading procedures. Under N.J.S.A. 18A:39-19.2, which covers guidelines for interacting with students with special needs, transportation workers are only required to know that when transporting students in wheelchairs on a bus, “restraints that may be necessary could include a three-point seat belt, harness/safety vest or a car seat for children who are small in order to keep them safe while transporting the student to and from school. You need to know how to get students in and out of these types of equipment.”

There does not appear to be any requirement for transportation workers to be able to provide any medical assistance. Adding that extra skillset might call for an increase in salaries for bus

NABJ journalists.

“We were going to have a youth day program. We were laughing all the way to church,” recounted Sarah Collins Rudolph, known as the ‘fifth little girl’ and lone survivor found in the basement covered in debris.

Rudolph’s sister, Addie, was one of the four little Black girls that died in the bombing of the church in September 1963 at 10:22 am. Rudolph was rushed to the hospital after. She lost her right eye and had pieces of glass in her body.

“When I came back to my room my mother was waiting so she told me that all the girls that was in the lounge with me. They was all killed,” said Rudolph.

Dr. Carolyn McKinstry, friend of the four girls who died in the explosion, was a 15-year-old Sunday school secretary for the 16th St. Church. She said she loved that church and the sense of community it fostered for her. She recalls being at the very first meeting that King, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Shuttlesworth held in Birmingham. “I came home from school. I came into this office and I heard what I called fiery speeches,” said McKinstry. “Somebody with a lot of passion and I didn’t know what it was.”

McKinstry remembers signing the nonviolent pledge in order to march with King and

Shuttlesworth before the horrific bombing of the church. She had arrived at church that morning with her two little brothers that also survived. She said she carried out her secretary duties. She had passed the bathroom and spoke to the girls. “And when I got to the top of the stairway the phone was ringing,” said McKinstry. “The male caller on the other end said ‘three minutes’ and as quickly as he said that he hung up the phone.”

She said she made it to about the first pew on the main floor of the church when the bomb exploded.“The first thing that entered my mind was thunder,” said McKinstry, about how loud it was. Others also said that the bomb that went off at 16th St. was so loud it was heard all over Birmingham.

“I tell people sometimes when the church was bombed I was 15, but for the next 20 years, I was 15,” said McKinstry, describing the trauma.

Birmingham and certain counties throughout Alabama at large have changed significantly in the past six decades. But in other ways, nothing has changed.

“Since Richard Arrington became mayor there have only been Black mayors to come behind him,” said tour guide Brenda Wright, who has lived in Birmingham for the past 78 years. “Birmingham is very progressive regardless of what you may have been told in the past. We’re moving forward.”

The push for Fajr’s Law will be coordinated under an organization called the Fajr Move- ment ESA and will be an effort to help fund research about the genetic disorder. transportation workers, to which Nash insists, “If that’s what’s needed for kids to be safe, I don’t see the problem. They need to get it done.”

Current Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin was present at some of the forums at the NABJ conference held at the large sports complex downtown.

Neighboring cities like Selma and Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, played equally major roles in the Civil Rights Movement. This week in Montgomery, a series of viral videos online captured a group of white boaters assaulting a Black riverboat captain. The boaters were blocking a riverboat from docking and staunchly refused to move. They then proceeded to attack the captain when he started to untie the vessel. Black coworkers, passengers, and other onlookers jumped in to help the man. Three white people are supposed to be charged with misdemeanor assault and one Black man who wielded a chair in connection to the riverfront brawl is being asked to turn himself in, reported the Associated Press.

The incident has once again spotlighted racial relations between Black and white residents in Alabama on a national stage.

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https:// bit.ly/amnews1.

Nash told the AmNews that she has reached out to the offices of Senator Cory Booker, Gov. Phil Murphy, Franklin Township Mayor Phillip Kramer, and the New Jersey Department of Education regarding her Fajr’s Law proposal but has not had any response. In fact, no one from any of the named offices has even contacted her family to express condolences about the loss of her child.

The AmNews has also reached out to the offices Nash tried to contact, and so far, only the New Jersey Department of Education has promised to respond to our questions, but they were unable to respond by deadline.

Najmah Nash recalls that on July 17, the bus aide, Davila, and the bus driver were relatively new workers on Fajr’s summer program route. She noted that they arrived and just seemed focused on the mechanics of doing their job. “They didn’t interact much with my daughter at all. Which, unfortunately, isn’t anything new to us. A lot of times, you know, they don’t interact with the children, or they will barely interact with you: It’s like it’s forced.

“I’m just that type of mom where I’m engaging and making eye contact and saying good morning. I let them see me engage with my daughter and talked with her the entire time as they were loading her on the wheelchair lift, so they can see that even though she’s nonverbal, you can still talk to her and she responds to that.”