Lawrie Zhang's post

The Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta was an amazing museum, and I really liked being able to see the Morehouse exhibit, where many original documents written by Martin Luther King Jr. were displayed. I also liked how the museum talked about civil and human rights on a global scale. Our speaker, Charles Steele, shared shocking statistics indicating that there is still much inequality in our world today, and that we must continue to fight for change. Being at the King Center was an amazing experience, and I particularly liked being in the Ebenezer Baptist Church. Being inside the church and hearing the speakers play Martin Luther King’s sermons was indescribable, and it was a very memorable experience. 

The Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery was also an unforgettable experience. It was amazing to see the black circular table with the names inscribed into it, and to dip my hand in the water. The Equal Justice Initiative made me aware of many shocking and saddening statistics about those being incarcerated in our country. I had no idea that many extremely young children were being given life sentences in prison, and I was glad to learn about the organization and their cause. It was also powerful to see the jars filled with the dirt from lynching sites lined up in shelves against the wall. The Rosa Parks Museum was very informative, because I learned many new facts. I didn’t know that Rosa Parks decided on her own to stay in her seat, and that it hadn’t been planned beforehand. Only afterwards was her arrest used as the forefront of the bus boycott and the Civil Rights Movement because it was a clean arrest. I also learned that Jo Ann Robinson, a teacher, along with two students made thousands of pamphlets to hand out to inform others about the bus boycott that was to take place. 

The Dexter Avenue Parsonage was a moving experience, because we got to tour the house MLK lived in when he was in Alabama, and we were able to see where the bomb exploded at the front of the house. The Footprints to Freedom Tour at the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma was very memorable and shocking, as we experienced just a fraction of what slaves in the past had to go through. We learned more about the countless people who participated in the marches during the Civil Rights Movement, and got to walk across the famous bridge ourselves. 

In the past few days, I’ve already learned and experienced so many unforgettable things. I can’t wait for the rest of the trip, and to learn more.