Days 1&2 In Washington

Touring the capital was interesting for many reasons. The entire time I felt that the tour guide was emphasizing how George Washington will forever be immortalized in the building and idolizing him to such a high level that I began losing interest in the subject. In my AP US History class we had to read this book called 1776 that talked about the Revolutionary war. To my surprise Washington was not as great and fearless as history depicts him. By the end of the war he was developing depression and relied heavily on the support of his soldiers like Nathaniel Green. I notice that this happens a lot when talking about American history. We build up these figures so much that we forget that they are actually humans with flaws. Another thing I was not a fan of was the poorly sculpted statute of MLK. Compared to the actual one that we saw later that day it was not as detailed and seemed rush. They entire thing was ironic. A building that is supposed to symbolize liberty and justice was built on the hard labor of slaves, just like the rest of the country. On a more upbeat note I really enjoyed walking around DC looking at the different memorials from Lincoln to MLK and Fredrick Douglas. I learned so much about Douglas that I did not know before. Besides knowing that he was a great abolitionist and speaker I learned that he married his second wife, a white women, as a political statement. Walking into the Smithsonian, seeing all of the black people ranging from different age groups getting to see their culture and history on display like that was truly a beautiful site. Personally after hearing the news of all the negative stuff happening within the black community from police brutality to different disparities that we face its refreshing to go out and be reminded that even in the face of adversity we as a people can still over come that and build something positive from it. Everything was very organized and it was a great start to the trip. I cant wait to see everything that is in store for the rest of the trip.