The last part of our trip was spent in Clarksdale, Mississippi. We spent Wednesday afternoon walking around Clarksdale, exploring the blues capital of the world. The majority of my afternoon was spent in two locations, the Delta Blues Museum and Ground Zero Blues Club. The museum was very interesting and provided more time to take in the all of the blues history that is abundant in the region. It was fun to see pictures of places like Po’ Monkey’s, knowing that we were there only two days before. I was also really excited to get some posters in the gift shop that I can use to decorate my new apartment with. After the museum we went to Ground Zero for lunch. This is a Blues club that is rather well known both for its blues, and for the fact that it is owned by Morgan Freeman, who is from Clarksdale. One of the things that makes this place unique is that people sign their names all over the place; on the walls, the tables, the mirrors, everywhere. It was fun to find a place to make my visit official by adding my name to the wall. We were only there for lunch, so we couldn’t take in the full experience with a band, but it was still fun to see the place.

After spending some time downtown, we got back on the bus and headed to our “hotel” for the night, the Shack Up Inn. I put hotel in quotations because the Shack Up Inn is unlike any other destination in the hospitality industry. I had explored the website prior to our arrival, so I was somewhat expecting what we saw when we first pulled up, but it was still a bit of a surprise. The Shack Up Inn consists of a row of shacks that have do not look like they belong in the year 2007. The shacks all have electricity, hot water, and air conditioning, but that’s about it. At first it was really fun to explore the shacks, see how they differed, and decide which ones were better or worse, but then it started to set in that we were actually staying there for a night. I’m obviously biased, but I’d say that my shack was the best one. It was bigger than some, and ours was the only one with a screened in porch. The experience was a lot of fun, and the class definitely made the best of it, but I wouldn’t really say it’s something I would like to do again.

Our stay at the Shack Up Inn was followed by two long days of driving home. We drove all day Thursday and spent the night in Knoxville, Tennessee. Unfortunately we did not get to see much of Tennessee because we left for Wake at 6:30 the next morning. The whole ride from Knoxville to Winston-Salem was spent sleeping on my part, so it went by pretty quickly. When we finally got back on campus it was pretty sad to realize that the trip was actually over. I had such a great time and learned and experienced so much that I really didn’t want it to end, but I know that I will keep this trip with me for a long, long time.

Today was our entrance to the Deep South and I must say it took us a long journey to get here. We traveled from Winston-Salem North Carolina to Birmingham Alabama. It was a 15 hour bus ride I think and traffic in Atlanta was very bad. While on the bus we had class discussion and it turned out to be a great class discussion. We had a lot of time to bond on the bus with one another and a lot laughter and serious moments with one another between the 15 hour bus trip. When we made it to Birmingham Alabama, I must say that it was almost everything that I imagined it to be. It looks like a nice old country town with a little twist of a city flavor. It wasn’t until we got to diner where I was convinced that I was really in the Deep South.

Today was our second Sunday together. This morning we attended church service at the Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church in New Orleans, LA. This church is a mega church with another branch in Atlanta, GA. The leaders of the church are Bishop Paul S. Morton, Senior Pastor and Elder Debra B. Morton, Co-Pastor. This church experience was very different from our last experience at 16^th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. This morning, there was definitely more of a vibe of contemporary worship style especially through song and the praise dance ministry. Even though the church has a very large congregation, it seemed like there was a great sense of community and a welcoming presence. The service was led by the Co-Pastor Elder Debra B. Morton. So, the fact that a woman was leading the sermon made it different from last week’s church experience. You could tell how much the community has been through because of some of the topics brought up in the sermon. The title of her sermon was “Like Mike”. It focused on the fact that many people wanted to be just like Michael Jordan when he first entered the scene. People wanted to look like him, dress like him, and more than anything be able to play basketball like him. This part of the sermon was the point when she was trying to captivate everyone, from all different age groups to become involved in the service. Co-Pastor focused on how people of God need to be like Daniel, a major character of the Old Testament. Daniel was led out of the lion’s den. The focus for me was realizing that everyone has gifts and that we should not idolize Earthly figures. I thought that the sermon was powerful and well delivered. After church when he had our reflection, we learned that a former professor at North Carolina A&T and a resident of New Orleans wrote a note dedicated to our class. The letter was heart felt and she gave us great advice. It was nice knowing that someone took the time to think about our group that was visiting.

After church and reflecting today, we had student reports and watched the film, The Trials of Darryl Hunt. This was my second time viewing the film and it really gives you a chance to think about the conditions of prison and the impact of 20 years living knowing that you are innocent. Darryl Hunt endured three trials before justice finally came. It took a lot of hard work on behalf on Hunt’s lawyers and other people in the community. Hunt’s story is one that definitely needs to be told across the country because this kind of case occurs way to often. There are issues brought up in Hunt’s trial that deal with racial tensions in the Winston-Salem community that continue to be strong. I think that this film is a good sedgeway into preparing for Parchman. I’m looking forward to an exciting day in Cleveland, MS and surrounding areas tomorrow.

After two eventful nights in New Orleans, we got up very early to attend Sunday service at Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church. The church is located in a pretty rundown neighborhood and the make-up of the church members was very different than the 16^th Street Baptist Church we went to last Sunday. The people ranged drastically and this was shown by their attire. There were some women dressed in fancy dresses with hats and then others wearing jeans and tank-tops. I even saw a woman with a gold grill in her mouth! The service was exactly what I expected when I learned we were going to a “mega church.” The dancers at the front and the video advertising daily voicemails that you can sign up to receive from the pastor fit into my stereotyped perception of what a church like that would be like. I also completely agree with how Dr. Hattery described the woman standing closest to us while waiting for people to go to the front to be saved because I was staring at her the entire time. She was almost staring people down to get them to stand up and I couldn’t decide if it was nice that the other people holding their arms out were welcoming or also being overly persuasive. The sermon was engaging as she opened with Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods metaphors that allowed all of the members to relate. She was also really funny, open, and honest with what she was saying and you could tell that she was truly genuine in her beliefs.

During our incredibly long bus ride to Cleveland, Mississippi, we had several reports and the topic that we spent the most time on was the treatment of prisoners and we also watched the HBO documentary The Trials of Darryl Hunt. We discussed at length the idea of prisoners getting paid for the labor they are forced to do and after hearing the statistics and injustices that happen within the system, everyone who spoke was in favor. There were valid arguments and it is a hard topic to decide one way or the other but I feel for the families of victims they could never be able to accept the guilty person being paid. Although the instances like Darryl Hunt are heartbreaking and knowing that now he is out of jail and still will not be able to find employment even though his innocence was proven, I still think that the majority of prisoners are in jail for a reason and paying prisoners will not fix the corruptions that are prevalent in the system or ease the pain for those affected by the crime.

Today was very similar to last Sunday in structure, but very different in experience. The day consisted of attending a Baptist church in the morning, and then spending the rest of the day on the bus traveling to our next destination. The church we attended this morning was Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church. This was now my second experience in a primarily African American Baptist Church, but it was very different from the 16^th Street Baptist Church. First of all, the congregation was much larger, as was the building itself. The music at church today was performed by a large gospel choir, and was pretty jubilant with clapping and some dancing. This pretty much fulfilled my expectations about what a gospel choir would be like; the music was lively and contemporary, but more traditional than last Sunday’s. Today’s pastor was a woman, which is something that I am not used to at all, but I thought she was great. She talked about a variety of things, but her main message was about being like Daniel from the Bible. Her message related to the crowd very well, which was pretty diverse in age and much younger than 16^th Street. This church was also very contemporary compared to what I am used to, passing out very colorful handouts and cd’s to all of us, and projecting the service and Bible passages on large screens around the church. You can even sign up to receive inspirational messages on your phone everyday! Another very interesting part of the service was right at the end when people were “saved.” There were about 8 people who were saved in front of the congregation, and it was different to see them be touched on the head by the pastor, and then fall back into somebody’s arms. I am not used long services, and this was very long to me because it was over two hours. I think all the singing and the long sermon are what particularly contributed to the length.

After church we got on the bus and spent the rest of the day traveling to the delta region of Mississippi. Cleveland to be exact. The drive was long, and we had a lot of class time with discussion, presentations, and documentaries. It was also interesting to watch the scenery change as we progressed through Mississippi and seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Half the class, myself included, do not have cell phone service here, which is bizarre because of how dependent we have all become on technology. This also demonstrates how we are now in a completely different world from all of our previous stops. Now its time to watch a documentary about a woman who lives in the county we are staying in, and shows the terrible poverty around here. This should be a nice, relaxing way to end the night after a long day and a crazy weekend.

After all the travel of the past few days, the holiday was a welcome change. We knew that most everything would be closed, so Dr. Hattery planned for us to visit a new facility on the Selma to Montgomery Trail, the Lowndes Interpretive Center, at the site of Tent City.

My day started out with a “touring” 5 mile run through downtown Montgomery. Because of the holiday, there was nobody in evidence. The area is mostly government buildings and so their employees had the day off. This made for a nice run, you could jog down the middle of the streets without worrying about traffic. I took my camera along and stopped to snap shots of landmarks (some are in our Flickr area).

We didn’t leave until 10:30 which made for a nice relaxing morning. The trip to the Center was classroom time with students delivering reports on Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Selma to Montgomery March. The highlight of the ride, however, was our visit to a truck stop to put gas in the bus. Dr. Hattery turned it into a contest to see who could come closest to guessing the cost of the gas and how many gallons it would take to fill the bus. We also had a stop in Hayneville to get groceries for our Memorial Day picnic. Hayneville is the town where Jonathan Daniels, an Episcopal Seminary student, was killed in 1965 by a local storeowner after being released from jail for his part in the boycotts of segregated facilities. We were shown an excellent documentary on Daniels as we rode along.

At the Interpretive Center, we viewed another well produced film, this one on the Selma to Montgomery March. Afterward, we visited the museum that documents the March. Right as we started, a gentleman approach us to ask who we were. This has happened several times, and Drs. Hattery and Smith have told us how these encounters can turn out to be the most educational spots in a planned activity. The man who talked with us is Bob Mants, who was and SNCC member and one of the four leaders of the March. His picture was in prominence on a wall mural. He was 22 when the March took place. The picture above shows Mr. Mants pointing to his younger image. It turns out he lives in the area, was driving by the Center, saw our bus, so turned in to see what group was visiting!

The day was hot, but while there, we had a great picnic complete with hot dogs, hamburgers, lots of chips and watermelon.

Day 1: Drive to Birmingham, Friday 5/25/07

Today we had the distinct privilege of getting up bright and early to get on the bus to drive to Birmingham. On the way up, we discussed our readings, heard student presentations, and watched a few films.

The discussion about the first two readings was interesting, because they were articles we read for Social Stratification last semester. It was a nice refresher course on the theories behind stratification. I’m really excited to be able to apply these theories that I’ve learned about and see how it opens my eyes to the realities of inequality and injustice.

The student presentations were fun, just because I like learning about Civil Rights history. I gave one of the presentations, on the bombing of the 16^th Street Baptist Church by members of the KKK in 1953. Other students presented on things like the Children’s March and MLK’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail.” I had never heard of the Children’s March before, so this was enlightening information. In her presentation, Jillian mentioned how Malcolm X criticized MLK and Civil Rights activists for their use of children to achieve there goals. He said this just displayed cowardice on the part of the activists because they weren’t ready to get out there and do the work and feel the sting of oppression themselves. I think that he was way off the mark in this point. If children are not involved, the movement has no means to continue forward. These children are the ones that need to be educated so that they can be the leaders when they grow up. Additionally, young people tend to have more freedom and time to dedicate to causes like this and are generally willing to do a lot of the hard work.

The later discussion was on what it means to be a southerner and if we considered ourselves to be southerners. This is a hard discussion for me, just because I’m unsure of where I stand. I know that I come from a southern family and that, geographically, I come from a southern state, however I don’t always feel that I’ve grown up “southern.” I mean, I’ve certainly never considered myself a northerner, but I guess I’ve just never really considered myself anything…which is very uncharacteristic of a southerner. They are fiercely proud of their heritage, which certainly isn’t the case for me. I’m rather indifferent.

I don’t know that care to always be identified as southern. Sure, it’s great in a southern hospitality sense (and I feel that I’ve got that part down), but I look at this very colored history of this place and I’m not always so proud. Should I be proud to be from a region that is home to continued injustice and discrimination? I think this question going to be something I wrestle with a lot this trip.

After lunch we watched Fried Green Tomatoes and tonight we got to eat at the restaurant from the movie and the book. It was a lot of fun and was a great cultural experience. Food was served cafeteria style. You got to pick a meat, sides, bread, and a dessert. I laughed when I walked in and saw our choices, as the vast majority of choices were fried or cream based. Welcome to the south.

Today was a pretty relaxed day. I didn’t really feel very challenged by what I’ve seen but am more so functioning with the concerns about what the future days will bring. It was wonderful to spend the day getting to know the other people on the trip!

Hello! Today was the first day of the expedition. We had a LONG bus ride, but it’s ok because we used our time well. We had a really good discussion of how we define ourselves (as a southerner or not). I came to the conclusion–which I always have-that I am not a southerner. I feel like that one’s pretty obvious, but because I’ve lived in North Carolina for so long I think others may disagree with that. I just think it has a lot more to do with one’s culture than the geographic region in which one lives. At this point I don’t have too much to analyze because we did spend so much time on the bus. We did hear presentations about the 16^th Street Church bombing and those involved in it. We will be touring the church tomorrow and I think that will put a different perspective on the presentations. It’s so different to hear a presentation or watch a video or sit in a classroom and learn about something than it is to actually experience it. Although this trip will have significantly more impact on my view of the world, I had a similar experience in high school after I took world history. My teacher took a group of us to Europe and we actually got to see the artwork and the architecture we spent so much time talking about. Like I said, this will be very different, but after 4 years of sitting in classroom and learning about racial tensions (in the south and the United States as a whole), the Civil Rights movement, stratification, along with everything else, I’m going to see it. I’m still not sure exactly what to expect from this experience, but I’m looking forward to it.

On Friday we boarded the bus at 8 AM and departed from the Wake Forest campus at 8:30 AM. By the time we got checked into the hotel in Birmingham it was 5:30 PM….accounty for the time change this meant we spent 10 hours getting here.

Of course I’ve made this drive so many times before, I always forget how long the first day is. But, in many ways the length of the trip is important because it represents symbolically where we are headed…a LONG way from home
I spent a good deal of time trying to make phone calls and check voicemails. (Parents: If you don’t hear as often from your student as you’d like, remember that cell phone coverage can be spotty.) As usual, we still have a few details to work out, but as always, things fall into place.

This morning we are having a technology re-fresher led by our expert Susan Smith (accompanied by Lynn Sutton). Soon we’ll be heading downtown so we can tour the 16th St. Baptist church, the Civil Rights Museum, and Kelly Ingram Park. We will be joined by Ms. Peggy Heidi and Judge Helen Shores Lee. I can’t express how grateful we are for their time, especially on Memorial Day weekend. They are busy busy women and that they will spend some time sharing their experiences over decades of living in Birmingham will be so meaningful. And, if all goes well, we’ll stop by to see Angela Davis’ house…she is one of my favorite writers so it is always a goose-pimple inspiring experience for me.

I’m also looking forward to dinner with Cameron Cole, a wonderful Wake alum, who will take us to Dreamland BBQ for dinner…yum yum.

A shout out to Travis & Emma…good luck at your game today, Trav. Have you worn your new swim suit, Emma? (love, Mom)

Hello:

We had a 10 hour ride to Birmingham. While LONG, it was educational to hear the student reports and listen (and contribute) to the discussions of (a) social stratification and (b) what defines a southerner.

Many of the students from the south (even though their parents are from elsewhere) did not define themselves as “southerners.”

Everyone on the bus enjoyed the chapter by Dr. Escott.

We arrived at the hotel (Comfort Inn, Birmingham), checked in and within 90 minutes we were headed to the restaurant (Irondale Cafe’) a small, intimate place where the movie FRIED GREEN TOMATOES was filmed.

The food was OK. Cheap.

That ended day one.

Todat, 9AM we are having a tutorial session by Susan Smith and Lynn Sutton (Z Smith Reynolds Library). Everyone is listening and paying attention.

At 10AM we are off to downtown Birmingham to see sites and visit with public officials who are taking time from their Memorial Day weekend to visit with the class.

See ya,

Earl Smith