Final Days

After watching Redtails on the bus before going to the Tuskegee Airmen Historic site gave me useful background information and a sense of what to expect at the museum. The guest speaker that we had at the Tuskegee Center, Benjamin Newhouse was great. You could tell from the way he speaks that he truly believes in setting goals for yourself and going through different avenues to ensure that you receive the necessary tools to make those goals a reality. He highlighted the importance of education and pointed out all of the great activist and leaders that came out of Tuskegee. I have always been a fan of Booker T Washington and his belief of educating the man to make a change so going through his house was amazing. Hearing Ms. Cherry speak was also a highlight of the trip. She did a great job conveying the life and beliefs of MLK. Going to the EJI was also one of my favorite parts. It just reminded me that despite the barriers and obstacles that we as a people have overcome there is still work to be done. Listening to the story of Ray Hinton was emotional and inspiring. It is sad fact that knew he need a white southern ballistic expert to prove his case. Even after having the proper evidence proving that he was innocent judges still refused to see him due to his color and class. Despite it all he was able to forgive those who wronged him. The work that the EJI is doing is inspiring on all levels. Finally the simulation we did at the end understanding the difficulties of the middle passage was surreal. Seeing and experiencing how they were treated made me angry and upset. These were people who came from lines of Kings and Queens, the first engineers and accomplished great things were also being degraded to a level where the coudn't even preserve their names. Still they made a life for themselves in a foreign land and for that they deserve all the respect. I enjoyed this entire trip and am grateful to learn more about the history and culture of African Americans. It was an eye opener and I got to see more than just the surface level things we talk about in school.