A retired Methodist pastor will share his story about joining the civil rights movement in a presentation on Saturday, December 14 at the Sitka Public Library.
Reverend John Alan Boryk grew up in the Jim Crow South and attended segregated schools. He calls himself a “recovering racist.”
“All my life, I was taught to be a bigot in the schools, especially in Mississippi,” he said. “I can point to specific instances. That’s how we were indoctrinated.”
That changed when Boryk moved to Illinois for college. In March of 1965, he heard Martin Luther King, Jr. speak. Just a few days later, Boryk boarded a bus to Selma, Alabama to join the now-famous civil rights march to Montgomery. He remembered worrying about his father’s reaction.
“The school required that I get permission from my parents,” Boryk said. “Well, my mother answered the phone and said, ‘Sure,’ and then she said, ‘I’m glad your dad didn’t answer the phone.'”
In the following years, Boryk became a staunch civil rights advocate. Now, he shares his journey with schools, rotary clubs, and congregations around the country. He says he hopes to encourage others to reflect on racism today.
“It’s not that people are redneck bigots and are out with the Ku Klux Klan,” he said. “No, it’s subtle. It’s more the attitudes that we’ve been raised with.”
Boryk will share his presentation, “Segregation to Selma,” Saturday, December 14 at 10:30 a.m. at the Sitka Public Library. You can listen to the full interview with KCAW below.
