AFRO 298 Post #4

Yesterday(Tuesday, March 25th) was very much so the most eventful day we've had so far on this trip. But before all the chaos and confusion occurred, first we went to the Rosa Parks museum which was in Montgomery, Alabama. There we learned more about what actually took place with the whole Rosa Parks and bus segregation situation. We watched a very realistic re-enactment of the events that took place on that bus in Montgomery that led to Rosa Parks' arrest. I also thought it was nice to hear all of the background information on who else was involved in this particular civil rights movement including  the teacher and her students who sent out all the letters informing the black bus riders of Montgomery to not ride the buses there as a form of boycotting until blacks were allowed to sit anywhere they wanted to sit on a bus.
Afterwards we visited the MLK Parsonage which was basically the house MLK lived in from the years of 1954-1960 with his wife and children. I really enjoyed seeing his home and while we were walking through his home, I was in complete awe. I couldn't believe that I was actually walking in the place where he lived, worked, ate, raised a family and made plans for improving the lives of blacks in this country . It just felt so surreal to me. I felt as if I could feel his and his family's presence throughout the home.
Next, we went to the Alabama State Capitol for a tour of the building. I already had a bad feeling about this tour because I saw a Confederate flag hanging outside of the building. I was also quite taken aback by seeing the memorial of the Confederate generals outside the State Capitol building. One of  the memorials in particular had an ingraving that read something along the lines of "knightliest of the knightly race." I found this to be disturbing and a bit shocking because I know this is referring to the Klu Klux Klan and white supremacy and I know they held a lot of power in the south and especially in Alabama. After observing all of this, I automatically had a bad feeling about the tour. It seemed as if the Alabama State Capitol was almost glorifying all the racist white supremacists that held power in Alabama like having a memorial statue of Lurleen Wallace, who although was the first female governor of Alabama was also a segregationist or of the paintings on the ceiling that depicted "happy" slaves picking cotton. When the tour guide was asked about certain things such as why there were still racist images being depicted in the building, her answer was to preserve the history of Alabama and this  seemed to cause an uproar. I guess the real question is where do you draw the line between attempting to preserve the history of Alabama and depicting Alabama's history without having offended visitors?

I believe that some of these images and memorials should be replaced with much more commerative images that depict Alabama's history in a more positive light. Slavery and the struggle that blacks went through in this country is not something that should be swept under the rug.

AFRO 298: Day 2 at Ebenezer Baptist Church and Emory Candler School of Theology (Atlanta, GA)

            On Sunday, March 21, 2014, our next destination was to travel to Atlanta, Georgia to visit and experience a church service at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Sitting on the right side of the bus, I noticed we were approaching the same Ebenezer Church that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. attended when he was still alive. The old blue Ebenezer Baptist Church sign with white lettering and a white cross-stood out to me and I was amazed how beautiful the building still was despite the last time Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has visited for a service before his assassination in 1963. Getting off the bus and being directed to cross the street so that we would not be late for service, I was fairly confused. I thought service still took place in the original Ebenezer Baptist Church building, but when I saw a newly, constructed Ebenezer Baptist Church across the street from the original church, I was pretty amazed.

            Entering the doors of the new Ebenezer Baptist Church, my breath was taken away at how large the inside of the church was as it was not portrayed this way from the outside. There were at least four different sections of pews on the main floor and even a balcony filled with tons of people. I was happier to breathe the air and feed off the vibe I received from the members of this church community than to assess what we had just walked into. The choir left me speechless as they sounded amazing and this church seemed different than many mega churches in Illinois and back in my home community of Proviso Township, Illinois. Despite the large number of members that were present, I could tell that each one knew one another and had somewhat of a relationship with each other. Walking into the church when 9 members were being baptized, officially joining as a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church was also a defining moment of the service.

            The line up of the service was somewhat different as many Baptist churches wait until the end of service to baptize members and there normally is not much singing and more of the church community receiving, analyzing, and attempting to apply the week’s sermon, or main message, to their lives. Also, with there being a short sermon I was a bit confused as to if that was the short version of the service and if this was what occurred every week as I felt as though I missed the sermon and that it was fairly short. The sermon was more about political issues occurring in the Greater Atlanta community and the Moral Monday Georgia protest. The Moral Monday Georgia protest took place just last week on March 18^th at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta where 39 protesters including Reverend Raphael Warnock, pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, protested a bill that would deny the governor’s ability to participate in the Affordable Care Act’s, or “Obamacare’s,” expansion of Medicaid. “Obamacare” provides healthcare to the lower class socioeconomic status, which many African-Americans are in the state of Georgia. This was something new to me especially not hearing about it on Good Morning America, and I felt that media on this protest should have been covered so that the world could be informed and gain dignity to stand up for what they believe in – having a voice in our society.

            After church service, I was able to tour the old Ebenezer Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s father and grandfather preached in favor of segregation, voting rights, and equal pay, which were all huge social issues at the time. Walking into the older church, I was connected immediately to many of the black and white photos of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. presenting different speeches behind podiums with different faces standing behind him – supporting the change he wanted to see in the South. The art also connected me to vision that Dr. Martin Luther King had for society at the time with other influential leaders that high schools in Chicago are named after such as Whitney Young, one of the most prestigious and well known magnet high schools in the Chicago School District. I then visited the MLK Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change Inc. where I was able to take a picture looking at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s burial in the center of a fluorescent blue fountain/pond. Another touching and reflective moment was being able to see the wagon that carried Dr. Martin Luther King’s body in the precession after his funeral.

            Listening to Dr. Bernard Lafayette’s, a Freedom Rider, story gave me more insight to what I could recall in the textbook about African-American history during the Civil Rights era. Textbooks say that Rosa Parks refused to get out of her seat because she was tired that day of all the injustice and unfair treatment, but Dr. Lafayette gave me another perspective that helped me put the pieces together. Anyone can be fed up, tired, upset, or beg for equality for African-Americans by not offering their seat to another human being, but being tired that day isn’t a good and valid excuse for being arrested. Dr. Lafayette shared that Rosa Parks refused to get up from her seat because in the back of her mind, she was thinking about Emmett Till and how badly beaten up and bruised his body was portrayed across all news sources across the nation. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat because she herself wanted to illustrate a picture that would be shared nationwide of what was occurring in the South. The picture of Rosa Parks looking out of a window symbolizes hope that segregation in the South will someday come to an end, that she was indeed thinking about the body of Emmett Till, and that it was time to fight, respectfully for her First Amendment Rights.

Day 2 was learning how to be an encourager and providing support to those that have the heart and drive to make a difference in society. The world has plenty of critics already as we could see the obstacles (people, rules, and State of Alabama government) that Dr. King Jr. had to face.

Selma and the Right to Vote

I love to vote. It may not have become apparent to the lovely people on this trip yet (although I highly doubt it), but I love politics and I REALLY love voting. I am that weird person that looks forward to Election Day every midterm and primary season. I get giddy walking into a voting booth. I read candidate profiles religiously. On Election Day I am tuned into every news channel waiting for election results. The very first thing I did on my eighteenth birthday was register to vote and I have yet to miss an opportunity to vote in an election.

Voting to me is the primary way I interact in the democracy I call my home. It is so important to me that my voice be heard. Voting is the most basic and fundamental way that the voices of the citizenry is heard. It keeps politicians honest and allows for citizens of every walk of life to participate in the governmental process. Growing up, my mom emphasized how important voting was. She would bring me into the voting booth with her every time she could. As a child she always told me that it was less than a century ago that women could not vote; that I should never take for granted the right bestowed upon me by those who came before me and suffered greatly for that right. Obviously that lesson stuck.

Today we visited Selma, Alabama, where the voting rights movement started. The history there is truly amazing and inspiring.  I cannot imagine what it would be like for someone to tell me that I cannot vote. That I do not have that right as a citizen of this country but that others of a supposedly superior race or gender do. It is unfathomable. The embarrassment, the despair, the longing, the frustration…I cannot imagine any of it because I have never had to experience such things. I value my right to participate in this democracy above most things. It is a part of me. I would quite literally feel bereft without the right to participate fully in this important process. That is why this part of our trip hit me particularly hard. These people knew the feelings of despair and longing and frustration and fought so that I will not ever have to. I owe these people a debt of gratitude and it may never be paid in full.

Those who fought so hard and valiantly for the right to vote are my heroes. It angers me that they didn’t always have the right in the first place. That things like the poll tax and literacy tests existed is maddening. That is why when I see legislation put forth by state governments to make it more difficult to register to vote I go crazy. I see the literal blood, sweat, and tears that went into conferring the right to vote being slowly pulled back and dismissed and it angers me. And that is why when the Supreme Court struck down a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 I went on a triad for days. The very act that people died and suffered trying to pass is being stripped of its power. The Court deemed the provisions no longer necessary; they said it burdened the states too much. What about the burden of the voter? These provisions are still as necessary today as the day they were passed and they are being taken away.  

It is true that my peers do not value voting. Politics is boring and dry at times. Most politicians talk just to hear their own voices at times. But if we as a generation do not start participating actively in the voting process we are doomed to repeat one of the most ugly parts of our national history. I sometimes take this right for granted; I think it will always be there but the right to vote is not secure. It will never be secure unless all of us take hold of our rights and use them to further our interests and needs. There are very powerful people that will do almost anything to take the right to vote out of the hands of those who most need it. And what is even more frustrating is that we as a citizenry are letting them. We are failing those who fought and died for this right. We are letting their struggles be in vain.

I cried while watching the video about the march from Selma to Montgomery and I honestly cannot say why exactly. But I do know that I will never ever relinquish my right to vote. And I will never again think of my right as something that is mandatory. It was less than a century ago that it wasn’t mandatory and my generation has forgotten that. I will fight for my right and the rights of others to have their voices heard. Social status, gender, race are not prerequisites of voting – but if we’re not careful it soon will be again.

Visiting Selma was amazing to say the very least. My desire and passion for voting rights was reignited. This may sound clichéd but I don’t care…I will not fail those who suffered and died for this right. And I will do my best to make sure that no one will ever have to suffer and die for this right again.

So, to my fellow trip members…if you’re not registered to vote, go register! It is so easy and takes very little time. And to those who are registered…VOTE! Voting keeps these people’s memories alive and well. It is a civil right, a product of the movement we are studying. By voting, you are participating in this process you are exercising the rights that many fought so hard for. By voting you further the civil rights movement and carry it on for future generations. 

Afro Second Post

From reading the rest of the required readings I noticed a similarity in them all which was individuals who are less willing to practice actions that may ultimately cause change. Those all of the reading were interesting the reading that stood out to me the most was Activism and Service-Learning: Reframing Volunteerism as Acts of Dissent. This article talked about students who were required to do community service in their communities. . I chose this article particularly because I instantly was able to connect being a college student myself. Also the fact that they were participating in community service was another thing that stuck out to me because I that is something that I am passionate about. There are different ways to portray community service but in this article however it was activism. When thinking about this trying to understand activism in the context may be difficult because many see activism with negative connotations when it comes to this and because of that students aren’t challenged to immerse themselves within this but rather distance themselves.

When reading Brainwashed it also stood out in particular to me because of the connections that I could make with how it explained the matters of discrimination and inequality as it is seen in society.  Thinking about all of the fundamental questions they ask: “Why can’t we build strong families?”, “Why do we keep killing each other?”, and “Why can’t we just stick together?”(Brainwashed) made me focus on different perspectives in order to understand the reasons for doing. I ask myself this because I have found myself falling into the brainwashing campaign at some point in my life. This article made that clear to me. It takes motivation to go out and further gather more information on what you learn. I know I read from a previous post that they learned more in depth the truth of what wasn’t said before. Hearing and seeing real life experiences is a part of that learning phase. This learning phase serves as a call to action similar to what is said that needs to be done in Brainwashed and I am glad that this pilgrimage gives us the opportunity to segue into that.

A nce weather in Birmingham

It is such a fun day here in Selma and Birmingham today

AFRO 298: Day 1 at the National Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro, NC

            Day 1 was a pretty reflective day. It gave me so much new insight to the Civil Rights era that I do not recall running across or learning in the classroom. The International Civil Rights Center and Museum is one place that I have enjoyed on our journey during the trip. There was so much information on the walls and reenactments that made me feel as though I was apart of the Civil Rights era. Being able to experience walking through a reenactment of the F.W. Woolworth Diner where the Lunch Counter Sit-In was very powerful. Four Black male students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College came into the diner one day and wanted to be served by White servers. The White servers did not serve the Black students from North Carolina A&T and continued sitting at the counter day after day doing homework and preoccupying space to bring awareness to the community of what was occurring. When I first thought of them doing this, I asked myself, “Well, what about the summer?” It turns out they already had that planned. During the summer, Black students from the community’s high school would come to F.W. Woolworth Diner to take the place of the North Carolina A&T students mocking them by doing schoolwork and demanding to be served. This movement grew larger and larger until one day, White people became fed up and stopped giving their service to F.W. Woolworth ending in the victory going for the 4 Black male students from North Carolina A&T eventually being served and bringing the awareness they wanted in the Greensboro, North Carolina community, which is where the original diner was located. It felt great being able to walk through the diner and watching the scenario of what occurred during this time period. It was like a determination booster to continue making a difference within my college community at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign being a STRONG African-American male on a Predominately White Institution (PWI).

            I was more touched by the image of the inside of a bus in the south that segregated Blacks and Whites. It was the first time I was able to truly interpret anything in the International Civil Rights Center and Museum. When asked to look at this image the first time, I had a look of “this man is asking me to look for something that I didn’t know existed on a bus back then.” It wasn't until I looked up to see two different types of straps that were used to support bus passengers that had to stand up if there were not enough seats. The ones towards the front appeared to be white from the black and white blown up image on the wall that was in the shape of a circle or a ring that gymnastics members use to perform flips. These white rings would provide support to bus passengers that were White at the time. Looking towards the back of the bus, I noticed there was a huge difference in supporting Black passengers.  From what I could see, there were black or dark straps like book bag straps that hand down to adjust the length of the book bag – very thin than the straps that go over one’s shoulders. There was not much support and I would assume this would make Blacks wrap straps around their risks portraying them as being enslaved on the bus and humiliating them to a certain extent because I am sure they were embarrassed to even be on the bus falling and tripping everywhere with every turn and stop of the white driver.

            A bright red with white letters that read, “Coca Cola” on a vending machine was pointed out to me as well as we moved through the exhibit. I was asked what stood out to me and I noticed that one soda at the time was $0.10 cents. When I was asked what else I noticed about the machine, I gave the same response as I did previously to the bus standing support. Someone pointed out that on the other side of the Coca Cola Machine, the soda cost $0.05 cent, $0.05 cent cheaper than it did on the other side. Analyzing the machine before the tour guide could even get words out, I predicted that the machine with the lesser value Coca Cola was for Whites at the time, and the greater value Coca Cola was for Black which was VERY NEW to me. This is something I felt should have been expressed in history textbooks during this time. This would have given me more of a sense of how petty, unequal, and unfair it was to charge someone for the same beverage, in the same machine for different prices. It somewhat defeats the purpose. I was more disgusted at the fact that Coca Cola would even sell soda from a two-door machine with different prices. What does this say about their company’s values, how they value their customers at the time, equality, and segregation? I could not believe that Coca Cola, a major food and beverage company in today’s society promoted the advancement of segregation as if White’s money was different from Black’s money as if it all wasn’t going to the same coin dispenser tray in the machine.

            Between the two experiences that I shared previously in addition to seeing the Ku Klux Klan outfit and hearing about all that they did to Blacks back during the late 1950s and early 1960s, I was pretty upset from the first site, on the first day. I would not say I was upset, but more so uncomfortable. Two scenarios that were very new to me that were not published in textbooks that would have helped me obtain a better sense of this era failed me to some degree, but helped me see 12 years later (from the second grade to my second year of college at The University of Illinois) how small actions such as food or beverage for survival, materials for protection, and other objects that add value of security and survival in people’s lives at the time promoted segregation and hit many Black people’s pockets hard as they already were uneducated and did not have an abundant estimated gross income. These scenarios have refreshed my memory as to why it is important to give up my seat for senior citizens disabled persons on a bus and hold on to the strap to support myself standing up and why it is important to work hard to when investing in beverage vending machines in today’s society without having to worry about there being different prices based one the color of my skin or risking my life because food is a necessity that should be convenient, price-wise, for everyone. It’s a sad feeling that my ancestors, grandparents, and heck even my parents as my father was born in 1959 in Alabama had to experience this but it is a reminder to always have a voice and be an ally as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would say himself, “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Day 1…was insightful and a huge bite to digest.

Afro 298 Fourth Assignment

I was not surprised when walking to the Alabama state Capitol and seeing a memorial dedicated to the generals of the Confederacy. I was not surprised to see a confederate flag, but I was surprised by how blatantly racist the quotes on the statues were. The quote about the "knightliest of the knightly race" I found very shocking. That is a quote advocating for White supremacy and I didn't think that Montgomery would include that. When the tour started, I went into it thinking that the tour would be very racist and not mention the real reason the Civil War was fought and glorify all of Alabama's racist leaders. Unfortunately, I was right. When the tour guide started to talk about the Alabama state flag and how the white represents cotton, she then started to talk about cotton and how it was produced in the "black belt" in the south and exported. She did not once mention the slaves who picked the cotton, and completely ignored what the Civil War was fought for. She gave a typical southern answer when saying that slavery was fought for state's rights, while it was really the right to own slaves. Personally, I think it is a disgrace to have confederate flags still up in the Capitol. That flag represents slavery, and having it up shows that the state of Alabama is not ashamed of their history of slavery. The Capitol is supposed to represent all of Alabama.

Another thing that really bothered me about the tour was that the portrait of George Wallace was up along with his wife. There were no portraits of people who actually did good things for Alabama, but instead segregationists like George Wallace and his wife. There was even a bust of Lurleen Wallace, who was also a segregationist. It featured a quote with her advocating for liberty, which was extremely hypocritical. The tour guide even made a comment saying that Governor Wallace was a segregationist, but not racist. What she failed to see was that when you support dividing the races, that is racism. There is no difference. The portraits of George Wallace and his wife should be removed from the Capitol and replaced with images of the people of Alabama who were involved with the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and other movements that helped Alabama to progress.

Although we cannot blame the tour guides for what is in the Capitol, we can hold them accountable for the information they present. Slavery needs to be mentioned and not ignored, no matter how shameful it is for Alabama. I am glad I was able to see the Alabama state Capitol because it showed me how racist the state governments still are. The Confederacy is not something to be proud of, and racist governors like George Wallace are also not something to be proud of.

Days Three and Four

The last two days of the trip have been very interesting for me to say the least. Tuskegee was phenomenal. The history in the small town was incredible. I didn't think it was possible for such a small town to have so much history and such a big impact on the civil rights movement. We visited Tuskegee University which is a Historically Black College/University. I’m a little embarrassed to say this, but I had no idea what a HBCU was before I visited Tuskegee and I think that is because I never had to consider the racial environment of a college I was going to attend. I was confronted with the privilege bestowed upon me, unwittingly, because of my race. I was stunned by the environment on the Tuskegee campus. For the first time I was a minority on a college campus and I didn't feel anything but welcomed. And I wished desperately that every minority could feel as welcomed as I did on that campus. I realize it is within my power to make that happen, and I intend to. The visit there made me reexamine how students treat others on our campus. I know that U of I is a big campus, much bigger than Tuskegee, and that makes connecting with people difficult; but I think that we as students on this trip could do more to make people feel welcome and accepted.

The history on the Tuskegee campus was unbelievable. The original buildings on that campus were built by the faculty and students who first went there. Such a dedication to receiving an education made me wonder how much more I could be doing for my education and the education of others. You can feel the history that surrounds that university. It is everywhere. And I think that’s why the community is so strong there as well. The students on campus bond over the history that took place there and then attempt to build upon it. I think if U of I could emulate even half of that energy our campus would be a different place. I think too often the history of our campus is swept under the rug or ignored. It should be confronted and we should build upon it and strive for a better future.

Today we spent the day in Montgomery. This is an interesting city to say the very least. I don’t think I realized that the history of the Confederacy of the United States was still so overvalued  here. Yes, the confederacy is a part of American history and the history of Alabama, and it needs to be confronted and remembered so that we never go back to such an ugly time. But I don’t think that placing confederate flags in the working capital and having a monument to the confederacy in front of the working capital is the way to move forward. In fact, to me, it just illustrates how much the confederacy still has a hold on this part of the country. And that saddens me greatly. In this city, were so much was done for civil rights of all Americans, the state still deems it appropriate to fly the confederate flag. This is a strange place indeed; it is a place were a wonderful organization like the Southern Poverty Law Center can exist two blocks away from a state capital with more institutionalized racism than I have ever encountered. This, more than anything, inspired me to create change and to work with an organization like the SPLC. It is within my power, and the power of the students on this trip, to change the state of these states. I can try to create an environment where flying confederate flags in repugnant everywhere. To me it almost feels like the capital (and perhaps those who work there) was clinging to the edifice of an ugly (but apparently proud ) past. I think its high time we all move forward. 

Post 3: Why White People Love Lynchings

You read that correctly. White people love lynchings.

            This is not a post about the intricacies of mob violence or racial bigotry or segregation or Jim Crow. Those things are too easy, those things are too commonplace, and their analysis, at this point in history, is obtuse. I’m not interested in Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King, Jr. I’m not interested in the myth of post-racial America or “how far we have come”. No, what I want to talk about today is the way that white guilt and white discomfort has colored (pun intended) the history of civil rights and the way that it is told in text books, museums, documentaries and homes.

            I will say first that the seriousness of lynchings and mob violence is overwhelming and that by no means am I attempting to downplay their importance. But every museum I have seen on this pilgrimage (although not complete) have belabored racist murders and segregation, regaling visitors with the same pictures of burnt men hanging from nooses and colored water fountains that we had seen in every exhibit, museum and textbook before. I started to question, as I have before, why the American public has been fed the same redundant story (which is not to say that this history should be ignored). I wondered where the Black Panthers were, or the history of Black Power, which were both parts of the Civil Rights Movement that highlighted the powerful agency that Black activists had. I wondered where the history of radical thinkers and leaders such as Du Bois (and his subsequent impact), Stokely Carmichael, and Bayard Rustin. But mostly, I wondered where the exhibit illustrating the modern-day impact of slavery, Jim Crow, and the failings of Civil Rights Movement was.

           

            The answer may seem obvious. “Of course, the Civil Rights ended all of that. We are all equal in this country”. This train of thought is convenient, but dangerous. You see, the reason that the concepts of post-racialism and lynching are similar is that they both make white people comfortable. What is comfortable about lynchings? The same thing that makes the Nazi Party comfortable. Because of its outright violence, it’s blatant ignorance and its murderous passion it is very easy for white people to distance themselves from it and to say, “Well, I would never do that, so I am different from those lynchers. I am different from corrupt police with water hoses. I am different from segregationists. That’s absurd to think that we are the same,” when in fact, white citizens today systematically ignore the effects of the history of institutionalized and socialized racial oppression in this country. We do this by voting for representatives that cut off welfare to single Black mothers, made second-class citizens by hundreds of years of racism and sexism. We ignore gang violence as a symbol of the failings of the federal and state governments to support its citizens with resources and respond to young Black men with disdain, incarcerations, disgust and indignation when they are criminalized and victimized by the police tasked with protecting them. We ignore microaggressions and racial slurs. You see, because we have been constantly shown that racism equals blatant violence and outright, obvious, transparent ignorance in the form of lynchings and segregation, we are able to distance ourselves from it, when we are, in fact, supporting and affirming its residual oppressive effects by protecting Zimmerman from life in prison for killing Trayvon Martin in cold blood (in defense of his racial privilege, of course), allowing low-income Black schools to suffer and close, and to silently nod our heads to the beat of Blacks as lazy, stupid, violent people with attitude issues.

            This is the problem. Unless racism is as obvious as lynchings, violence, or segregation (all things that we can separate ourselves from), it doesn’t exist to the white community. But here is the reality: We are not post racial. We are silently allowing this country and its unresolved, uneducated racial ignorance to lynch the futures of young Black boys and violently put them into jail. We are allowing ourselves to segregate cities on the increasing income gap, leaving the Black poor without resources, schools, or affordable housing. We are publicly shaming and taunting Black leaders that attempt to speak out, writing them off as “radical”. Until we, the white majority, come to terms with that we have left unresolved and ignored by the catch all Civil Rights Movement, we are just as guilty as the lynchers of the south, the Congressmen that passed segregation into law, and the firemen aiming powerful hoses at nonviolent men, women and children. The choice is ours to truly push lynchings into distant history.

Days One, Two, and Three

So far, the civil rights pilgrimage has been amazing. Speaker after speaker and exhibit after exhibit seems to keep getting better and expanding my knowledge of the civil rights movement. Our first day was spent in the beautiful city of Greensboro, North Carolina. Aside from the local vendors and beautiful city blocks, Greensboro offered key insight into a piece of the civil rights movement. The International Civil Rights Center and Museum was an amazing resource and introductory experience to start off the trip. The center gave us a general overview of the civil rights movement and major figures involved. Our tour guide, Brandon, was very funny and was able to place certain comedic twists when appropriate and made the exhibit come alive. At the end of the museum, Brandon talked to us about the mural of Barack O’bama’s face, and also pointed out that on the mural there were blanks that were meant for our own faces, because we are all able to make a difference in current social policy. This conclusion to the center was extremely encouraging and inspirational. I loved starting out the trip with the very broad and general overview of the time period which will give us a foundation for the remainder of the trip. 

After we left the museum, we made the short trip to the Beloved Community Center where we learned more about the history of Greensboro and the tragedy that hit in 1979. I was surprised when I realized that although the International Civil Rights Center and Museum was located in Greensboro, there was no mention of the tragedy in the exhibit. It was meaningful to learn about a more obscure event in history that seems to be glazed over when talking about the civil rights. It was so inspiring to hear about the event from a first-hand witness and it made it all the more raw when thinking about the horror of the attack. 

During our time in Atlanta, my favorite part of the day was spent at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and the King Center. I had never attended a predominately all-black baptist service, and it was so inspiring to witness the immense love and passion for faith. I had grown up in a somewhat contemporary church, but I was blown away by the amazing sermon given. The real-world connections were eerily relatable to current events and they really made me think about the way I perceive the poor and homeless. After the service, I explored the original Ebenezer Baptist Church and the Kind Center. I’m a huge fan of women in history, and I loved the large part of the exhibit dedicated to Coretta Scott King. There was a very explicit timeline of her life, and it was interesting and inspiring to learn about all of the amazing things Coretta had done before and after MLK was in her life; she is truly an inspiring woman. 

And finally, my favorite part of today was listening and learning from Dr. Hill and the Reverend. Reverend talked about how learning should be less about from the pages of a textbook and more about using your senses to gain a greater understanding. This struck a chord in me because I realized that attending this trip is doing exactly that. By attending this trip, we are undoubtably learning more about the civil rights, but by experiencing hands-on we are enhancing our learning experience and building a more meaningful knowledge base. So far I’m blown away by the experiences thus far and am very excited for the rest of the week.