The Legacy Project is…

…the pursuit of answers to difficult questions: What if you grew up next door to a concentration camp? Or, if your neighbor disappeared one day, never to return? How do we deal with such trauma? What if you had grown up under apartheid, or with AIDS, or in the midst of economic devastation. How might your life be different? How would you behave if a group that had always oppressed your people was suddenly vulnerable and under your control? Would you seek vengeance, or uphold a higher standard? Most of all, in any of these situations, would you be able to escape the memories of the past that surrounded your home and transform them, finding a way to live in the present, hopeful for a better future? And how would you do that?

…a life-changing experience: Following up on the tremendous success of last summer’s The Legacy Project: Poland program, Dave, Greg and the crew spent July 2008 in South Africa, examining the recent xenophobic violence there, the legacy of Apartheid, how the oppressed have become the oppressors, and also the future of the country: AIDS, poverty, racism, intersecting with youth and hope. The team visited Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, and Kimberley, speaking with victims and perpetrators of the Apartheid system, and discussing the country’s future with a wide range of South Africans. In few places is the tension between past and present more explicit. The intertwined legacies of imperialism, racism, and legalized oppression have left indelible scars. But in that pain is persistence; in that horror, hope survives. The journey to South Africa offered great insight into how humans can overcome their worst – and their worst instincts – to break the cycle of violence.

...a powerful vision through film: Teacher and co-founder of Road Scholars, Dave Whitson, and filmmaker/activist and fellow co-founder Greg Bennick have led two student journeys along with the team from Transcendental Media to capture, document, and bring to life for the screen humanity's dark past and hope for the future. Two trips, one to Poland and one to South Africa, have uncovered stories of survival and hope, and the projects which result will share lessons gleaned from these stories that future generations everywhere might take as they build a better future. In addition, the films will include the anticipation, experience, and reflection of the student's experiences, and will be a vital tool for any classroom discussions about violence. We live in a violent world, one which affects us all on deep levels even if we deny the world events around us. To have clarity on how others have managed to find hope in the midst of vision clouded by violence will inform us about how we too can move past a period of history which will undoubtedly be looked upon with critical eyes.