Today was a very moving day. Throughout my life I had often seen documentaries on the history channels or been shown a film in a class in school but today I was able to see a real life replica of the images I saw through the television. Coming into today, I had no idea what to expect, because I did not know much about the National Park we were visiting. Upon arrival I had the thought of “What are we doing here? Why do I just see picnic tables and open fields?” I had no idea what the Park had in store for us.

After briefly walking into the building, we watched a very moving film about the legendary march form Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The images of government officials advocating the brutality of African Americans, crazed police dogs ripping clothes of demonstrators, policemen beating people forcefully with Billy-clubs dad not need words to signify their intensity. It was hard to watch and hear some of the scenes shown in the film; because it made me feel a sense of anger against those who inflicted such pain on innocent African Americans.

Following the film, I walked around the museum only to see other disturbing images and displays of hatred and hardships placed on African Americans Displays such as ‘tent city’ really moved me as well. The thought that white land owners had the heart to move full families with children off of their land, out of their homes, forcing them to live in inhumane housing made me very angry as well. I can’t even fathom how it must have been to be forced out of your home and live in an Army tent for the duration those families did.

Upon returning to the hotel, we had a very interesting reflection session. It was unique in how we discussed issues because for a little portion of the session only African American students were allowed to respond in order to let the Caucasian students in the class hear how the black in our group felt about certain issues. This was a nice way to see that even though we are encountering civil rights issues in a non-personal level per say, fellow classmates are victims of similar hatred and discrimination nowadays.

Walking to the Capitol building downtown after reflections was a moving experience for me. It was just amazing to me to think that I was walking in the exact footsteps of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with thousands of followers for such a great cause closely following behind him. Taking pictures of the neighboring church adjacent to the Capital building that strongly believed in segregation was astonishing. I would not have thought that the two totally different historical places would be so close in relation to each other. Seeing the Capital building & Confederate Memorial sitting at the top of the hill overlooking the city gave me a sense that those discriminatory beliefs overshadowed every piece of the city and surrounding areas.

Today was a really interesting and moving day, centered on the era of the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama. The first part of the day involved a free hour where we were supposed to explore Kelly Ingram Park and the 16^th Street Baptist Church. I was very disappointed to hear that the church was closed for some reason, but the extra time spent in the park was really valuable. Kelly Ingram Park is where the children who were marching for civil rights during May 1963 were combated with fire hoses and vicious dogs. The park consisted of a “freedom walk” which circled around the park and featured various statues and sculptures commemorating the events. I felt it was really important to take the time and look at the statues to realize what had really happened on the very ground we were standing. It was hard to imagine the turmoil that went on over 40 years ago as we stood in this peaceful park; yet the statues cast a darker perspective on everything. There were two sculptures that left a huge impression on me. The first depicted the dogs used by police to halt the protesters, and the dogs were so realistic and terrifying that it literally sent chills down my spine to think about one of them coming after me. The next statue or sculpture of sorts that was really interesting to me had a bunch of children, and on the other side of the walkway were bars from a jail cell. Above the bars, the words “segregation is a sin” were imprinted, but the really curious thing about these words is that they were upside down. I don’t know what the significance of them being upside down was, but it really made you stop and think about the whole situation. My personal interpretation for this was that these protesting kids turned the civil rights movement upside down in sorts. It is easy to see the parallel because children, who normally have no say, were in this case the ones with the power who were causing problems for police, crowding the jails, and forcing action.

After taking in the park, we ate lunch at a soul food restaurant a couple blocks down the street, and then moved on to what I thought was the highlight of the day. We met in the Civil Rights Museum to listen to Helen Shores Lee, Barbara Shores, and Peggy Heidi tell us about what it was like growing up in Birmingham during that era. They told a lot of stories and really gave great insight into what it was like growing up that time as either a white or black child. The Shores sisters spoke about their house being bombed twice within a week and a half. Thank goodness nobody was hurt. These stories really put you into a different mindset about the whole civil rights movement because it is one thing to watch a documentary and read about what happened, but it is completely different when real live people are sitting in front of you telling their story. This was definitely the highlight of the day for me, as everything those ladies had to say and share with us was meaningful. I am on this trip to learn about these types of issues, and this was the first time that I really felt like had an understanding of the situation rather than just an appreciation of what happened. There was much more to the afternoon we spent with these ladies, as Ms. Heidi took us on a bus tour of Dynamite Hill, and we were able to stop in and visit the house where her grandmother used to live. We also saw the house that Angela Davis grew up in across the street, and stopped by the first elementary school to be integrated in Birmingham, where crosses were burned on a regular basis.

After the tour, we went back to the hotel for a couple of hours, and then our night time activities included eating dinner at a famous barbecue place with a Wake Forest alum from Birmingham, and a nice group reflection on the day. I really felt like our reflection time was a great way to end the day because it allowed the students to meet with Marcus and discuss what we felt was important about the day. Our group dynamic really seems to come out during these reflections, and it’s great to be able to talk about the different ways things affected different people, and to bring in multiple perspectives. Tomorrow we will finally get to go inside the 16^th Street Baptist Church when we attend service there, and I am really looking forward to that. It should be a really interesting cultural and religious experience. I’m expecting it to be completely different from the Catholic masses I’m used to attending, and I can’t wait to see if this is true.