Tuesday May 29, 2007

Today was an enjoyable day with early start. We started the day by walking down to the in Downtown Montgomery. The day started by going to the Civil Rights Movement Memorial. The Memorial has a great monument out front with a beautiful quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. The memorial is the only one in the nation devoted to the actual movement itself, and not one specific person involved in the movement. Our guide, Andrew was very helpful and lead a great discussion of some of the pressing issues on the importance of the memorial and how it’s important to learn about all of the people that died for the cause. The origin behind why the memorial was built is very interesting. It was sparked because of an innocent nineteen year old Black male, Micheal Donald was murdered by Klansmen in Alabama. Andrew brought up a very interesting discussion on current hate groups that exist in the Southern states across the US. We examined the prevalence of groups like, The League of the South in states like North Carolina.

After we left the memorial center, we headed for Selma, Alabama. It was a great experience to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the same Bridge where the marches were held from Selma to Montgomery. I felt really powerful being able to have that experience of crossing such an infamous bridge. It if weren’t for the tragic events that Blacks and Whites endured that year then there wouldn’t have been a Voting Rights Act of 1965. The experience was memorable and I will never forget it. Also, in Selma we were in the historic area which includes the George Washington Carver Housing Project. Walking through the housing project, I wanted to be able to change the conditions myself. I do not understand why government housing known as Projects are always in such bad conditions. I can definitely see organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center stepping in to revamp housing projects of the deep South. It was also just such a pleasure to walk down the sidewalk in Selma, Alabama, a very historical city that I have wanted to visit for years.

The ride to Bay St. Louis today was filled with student reports and films. I really enjoyed learning the statistics of Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma especially about the racial compositions of the cities. Spike Lee does great work and I enjoyed watching his documentary, Four Little Girls. The documentary included information that I had learned from previous student reports. But, I thought that the documentary did a great job of presenting the feelings and concerns of family members of the four young women killed because of hate and racism. We also watched a story presented by CNN on the damaging effects Katrina had on Bay St. Louis, MS. I was astounded to hear the facts about insurance companies and there distinctive differences between flood and wind damage. I also felt very uneducated in that I didn’t know the impact Katrina made on areas like Bay St. Louis in Mississippi.

We left the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC; located in Montgomery, Alabama) after a discussion of “hate” in the south. Lilly Massa (Wake alum, now a staff member at Vanderbily U) met us there and after our discussion with Andrew who explained how the SPLC works, the types of cases they engage in and the most recent cases they are involved with, we hit the L O N G road to Mississippi.

Must also say here WELCOME to Prof. Susan Faust (Wake Forest, Dept. of Communication) who arrived late the previous evening.

Thanks to Dr. Lynn Sutton (Director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest) we are committed to 2 1/2 days of “service” at the Hancock County library. Our students completed the required Institutional Review Board certification (a 4 hour ordeal) so that they can take oral histories from people directely impacted from Hurricane Katrina.

Along with the oral histories we will also engage a team of students with building a “paper trail” of the hurricane and the devestation via scrapbooks. The class has been split up into 2 (maybe 3) groups with specific tasks.

To prepare for the folks in Hnacock County we watched on the bus a CNN video of what Katrina did to this part of Mississippi (near the Gulf).

Most consistently the people talked about not getting the “respect & attention” as did New Orleans. They also did not get the financial response from US insurance companies, even those few with the proper insurance.

I am looking forward to our time here as it will give the class an “up front” experience working with good people who were hit with a natural disaster and who have had to navigate the human response (and not just FEEMA).

Check out the FLICKR (photographs) from the last few days. Some awesome graphics from our crossing the bridge coming into Selma.

Also, even though the Internet connections have been less than desirable, our students have done their homework, wrote their blogs, placed them on flass drives and thanks to Susan S. Smith (Director of Technology at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest U) we have been able to get the info on-line.

Part 2 of this blog with be posted later tonight.

Have a great day,

Earl Smith

This morning we got off to an early start. We began with a visit to the Civil Rights Memorial that was coordinated by the Southern Law Poverty Center. We learned the story of Michael Donald; whose story inspired the development of the center.

The following is a direct quote from a plaque that appear at the internal entrance to tell the story of Michael Donald.

“A landmark lawsuit prompted by the Southern Poverty Law Center to build a memorial to commemorate those who died during the Civil Rights Movement.

Michael Donald was walking to a store in Mobile, Alabama, in 1981 when two Klansmen abducted him. They beat him, cut his throat and hung his body from a tree. He was only 19.

In a groundbreaking lawsuit, the Center proved that the United Klans of America was responsible for Donald’s death. This same organization committed some of the worst hate violence during the civil rights era, including the church bombing that killed four girls in Birmingham in 1963 and the slaying of Viola Liuzzo during the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march in 1965.

In 1987, an all-white jury awarded Donald’s mother $7 million. The historic verdict put the United Klans out of business and forced the group to turn over the headquarters to Beulah Mae Donald, the victim’s mother.”

Morris Dees, the chief trial counsel of the Center was inspired to build the Memorial after he realized how many young people enjoy the benefits of the Civil Rights Movement; but lack the historical background knowledge.

I am unable to articulate how much this trip to the Memorial turned out to mean to me. I’m forever changed! I did not realize the extent of the issues that the Southern Law Poverty Center addresses each day. It is truly amazing. In fact, so amazing ………… that I may consider doing an internship at the center.

After our visit to the center, we drove to the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma. This is the bridge that countless marchers crossed as they marched from Salem to Montgomery to demand the right to vote.

Before, I precede any further I should say that one of my worst fears is bridges… and this experience was difficult. Especially, considering the fact that, we ended up walking across the bridge. {BTW: Pictures of this experience may be out there}

Our final destination today is Hancock County. And, we will begin our sociological experiences here bright and early Wednesday morning.

To be continued …..

Over the past few days, we have had limited access to internet in the hotel we stayed in so I am now covering our last day in Birmingham, as well as our time in Montgomery and Selma.

Before we left Birmingham on Sunday, we had the privilege of attending a church service at the 16^th Street Baptist Church where the four children were killed while attending a youth event by members of white supremacist organizations. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at this service, probably more so than others on the trip, partially because I had never been to a service like this, and also because it kind of spoke to me in a way that I’ve never really felt from a church service. The loudness, vivaciousness, and contemporary nature of the opening songs and others throughout was done in such a way that I literally felt the music, something I can’t say is true of any song at my Methodist church, or any other more traditional service I have been to. Though these are two very different styles, and neither one is more right or wrong, I can honestly say there was much more spirit, depth, and a much more powerful message in this service than I have ever derived from the more traditional services. I don’t know that the style is something I would necessarily feel comfortable in all the time, or that I could make this church my home, but it definitely was a rejuvenating and enlightening experience of faith. I was impressed with how much time everyone in this church put in to the service, and how they truly seemed to not only pay attention, but appeared to have connected with God in the service based on their responses and loud praise during song. At times, I was struck by the more fire and brimstone approach, trying to figure out whether I liked it better or not than what was used to. I feel there truly are positives and negatives to both my type of church and the 16^th Street Baptist Church, but neither one is more proper or correct in how they conduct themselves. I feel I developed a much bigger respect for this style of church and worship from my experience today, and was able to draw many parallels between the church I have been brought up in and this. I would be interested to go to this style church in another area to see how the messages and feelings differ. I feel that the more verbal style of worshipping of this African American church and longer length of their service than usual shows the central importance of religion in their lifestyle and culture. I am impressed with the amount of effort that seems to be put into each individual service at this particular church.

By the next morning we had checked in to our hotel in Montgomery. I went for a run around the abandoned downtown area where all the government buildings were. I marveled at the fountain in the town center, only to learn that it was the old slave trade market. I also ran up the steps of the capital building, and was stunned when I watched the movie on the bus, showing those same steps filled with the people who had made the march from Selma to Montgomery to protest African Americans being denied the right to vote. On a later trip to the capital building with the group, I was shown a monument I had failed to notice in my earlier trip: a monument to the confederacy and its leaders. I am appalled that this monument was allowed to have been constructed at all, much less next to the capital building, and containing all the flags of the confederacy and with very white supremacist quotes adorning the walls. This was a powerful message to me, showing that this is just one way in which racism continues to exist even today. More refreshing was the fountain monument to Martin Luther King Jr. in front of the Southern Poverty Law Center. It was such a place of peace with the slow flowing water, which seems to symbolize to me the nonviolence and slow progressing civil rights movement, but that the people kept fighting, despite obstacles, just like the water never ceased to move.

During the day, we went to the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail center, where we toured and had a cookout. It was nice to have a little time to explore and process all that we have been taking in over the past few days. The displays in the Center, as well as the very provocative memory they showed struck me very firmly. Each day of the trip has seemed to loosen me up a little bit, and hit into me a little harder as the information begins to accumulate and conceptualize itself. Though I first learned about the differences in ethnicities and the civil rights movement when I was young, I don’t think the depth of it has really come full circle to me until this trip. Each day serves as a stepping stone for me in my understanding and identifying with the discrimination that African Americans have faced ever since they came to America, and continue to face even today.

On Tuesday morning, after checking out of the hotel and loading the bus for Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, we walked to the Southern Poverty Law Center. This by far has been the most touching part of the trip so far for me. I can’t tell you exactly why, though the movie, discussion, and stories all depicted brutal stories and thoughts, but something about today just hit me. Seeing the faces of these poor victims, both African American and white, who died at the hands of organizations such as the KKK and the Night Riders, and the sheer number of people we know about, let alone the ones we don’t, just overtook me. Sitting in the movie and seeing the number of white power organizations still in power, combined with the horrific story of Michael Donald’s lynching, were enough to just kind of push me over the edge, though in a good way. Maybe another reason this day impacted me so much was because of my passion for justice, and continued interest in the law profession. Over the past few years, I have gone back and forth as to what career I want to pursue; after today, I think my choice to go to law school has been cemented. I could totally see myself doing the type of law that Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center does. I have struggled with how to combine my want to genuinely help people who are in the most dire need of help with my passion for justice and other skills in that area. I bought a book on how Dees came to be what he is today, and hope it will continue to lead me down a path towards what I want to be in the future. I’ve always heard that you can tell which lawyers are in their field because of passion, and which are there for money, and the ones who do it because they are truly driven to help, stand out among the crowd. This is what I would like to become.

The experience of walking across the same bridge that the people who marched from Selma to Montgomery did was one of great importance. This in particular really put us in the mindset of what it was like to walk right down into the police officers with their clubs and dogs, and how intense the walk they made must have been even beyond any concept we could ever have of it. Following, going to the George Washington Carver Projects was a little bit of a different experience for me. I couldn’t help feeling like we were being somewhat invasive into the homes of people, and felt like I wanted to hide my camera to avoid being rude. I began to feel somewhat uncomfortable and unwelcome in the neighborhood due to some of the looks and yells we got from some of the residents. It still was definitely important to see to give us an idea of where the march actually began, and how little the area seems to have changed since the march took place many years ago.

Day 3

Today was a very interesting day that was completely different from the first two days of the trip. We went to the Sunday morning service at the 16^th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. I was really looking forward to going to this Church because of the history behind it, and also because I knew that it would be a completely different worship experience from what I am used to. The service definitely did not disappoint. Almost everything about the service was different from the Catholic masses I am used to attending, and I knew I was in for quite a treat when two of the choir members warmed up the crowd with an enthusiastic rendition of “God is Awesome.” The singing and music during were very upbeat, with the congregation standing up, clapping, dancing, and singing along to it. This was one of the more enjoyable aspects of church, and while I am not particularly expressive like that, I found myself clapping along a little bit, and know that I would certainly be more involved if I had been raised in a similar church. The lady sitting next to me was particularly enthusiastic and vocal throughout the service, not hesitating to proclaim “yes, yes!” whenever she agreed with the preacher. This was mostly entertaining to me, but it was also nice to see someone who was so expressive with their spirituality. The final aspect of the service that was extremely different from what I’m used to was the sermon. The preacher spoke very passionately for what was a rather long sermon, I would guess around 30 minutes, but it may have been longer. When I say that he was passionate, I mean that he was yelling at points, waiving his arms, and sweating a lot. I felt like I could really identify with and understand most of his message, as it could be preached to most Christians; it was just the delivery of the message that was rather different. The whole experience was a lot of fun, and it is definitely something I would do again.

After church we said goodbye to Birmingham and drove to Montgomery, where we got settled into out hotel and ready for the next day. It was really nice to have some downtime to enjoy happy hour and swim in the pool. Tomorrow should be another interesting day in our newest city.

Day 4

Today was an incredible day that really surprised me in many ways. Because it is Memorial Day and not much was expected to be open, we decided to go to a park between Montgomery and Selma and then have a cookout. I’m not sure anybody really knew what to expect when we got this “park,” but it ended up basically being a museum dedicated to the march from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights in 1965. I did not know anything about this march until we arrived in Montgomery and started hearing about it in presentations, and still can’t believe that so many people walked 50 miles from one city to the next. The museum dedicated to this and other aspects of the civil rights movement was absolutely beautiful and very moving. We started out by watching a short film about the event and the brutality and force that police exerted on the marchers in order to halt their movement. People were killed while participating in a peaceful protest and trying to ensure a right that I was given the second I turned 18. This thought really hit me hard because at the end of the video they showed a statistic about the small percentage of 18-24 year olds who voted in the last election, and I am sorry to say that I was not included in that percentage. I just registered to vote a couple of months ago and am planning to vote in the next election, but it was always something that I just didn’t really pay attention to. I have never been so ashamed to have been given something like the right to vote and completely ignored it. Knowing that people died so that they could have what I was given and have not used puts a completely different perspective on things. It just goes to prove once again that you shouldn’t take anything for granted. Voting is a part of being American. It is a constitutional right that was unjustly denied to so many people, and I need to realize how easy I have it and important it is that I vote. Even if I never become truly interested in politics, I will always vote in the future because what I learned today made it have importance on a personal level, regardless of political interest.

After that heavy portion of the afternoon spent inside we all went outside to a picnic area and had a great cookout. Ronnie made hamburgers and hot dogs while we were pursuing our academic endeavors, and we all returned to a lovely picnic complete with watermelon for dessert. One more thing about the picnic and walking around outside: it was HOT.

The day was completed by a powerful group reflection and then the class walked around and explored the historic district of Montgomery. We walked around the place where the slave market used to be, explored the outside of the state house, passed Martin Luther King Jr.’s church, and stopped by the Civil Rights Memorial. It was nice to walk around the city, but was strange because it was completely deserted. It seemed we were the only people out there. The whole state house area was very interesting because there was a demonstrated appreciation for the confederacy. There were statues of Jefferson Davis, the president of the confederacy, as well as a monument displaying all the flags of the confederacy that had a quote about the “knightliest race.” It is clear that Alabama is not willing to forget its past, and seems to be quite proud of it. This is particularly interesting when considering the fact that we went immediately from the state house to the civil rights memorial. It is easy to see how so much tension existed in a city and state that was so divided and still bears the marks from this division.

As previously mentioned, we had a group reflection before we walked around the city, and I just wanted to talk about the reflection a little bit. These are quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the day, as it is just a time to think about the day and discuss various issues we encountered. These sessions really make me think, and I can only begin to put down some of the thought that I have resulting from them here, but there is one thing I wanted to mention. First of all, our group dynamic is very interesting because it is very racially diverse, and especially because there are no white males on the trip. I think this diversity is invaluable during our reflection time, especially because we talk a lot about race during this time. The specific thing we addressed tonight was white privilege, and I cannot even begin to describe my feelings here, but it is so frustrating to see how unfair this world is. My final thought is that I really believe that the biggest white privilege of them all is that most white people don’t even realize they have a white privilege because they do not have to deal with racism on a daily basis.

Southern Poverty Law Center: I was very impressed with the work they do at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Who knew? I didn’t even know there was a Civil Rights Memorial anywhere. The memorial is very well done, the work of Maya Lin, architect of the Vietnam Memorial.

This inscription is very special to me, as Dr. King included it in every one of his speeches and I have learned to listen for it. (Confession: while we were in church Sunday, I spent some time looking up the original verse in Amos 4:24)

If I had my life to live over again, I would go to law school instead of library school and work at a place such as this, with the ultimate goal of becoming a Supreme Court justice. Too late for me, but maybe not for my son Alexander who is a rising senior philosophy major at the University of Michigan.

Selma: very sad, very poor, seemingly unchanged. I was among those who were very uncomfortable walking the streets in the George Washington Carver district. I wasn’t afraid, but I felt embarrassed that our group was so intrusive in the lives of the people there. Dr. Hattery warned us not to look at them like we were at the zoo, but it was not possible to look like anything other than we were, rich American tourists with bling bling and cameras around our necks, gawking at the sites.

The long ride to Mississippi was over before we knew it and we faced the ironic contrast of the desolate hurricane-damaged landscape with the glitz of the newly rebuilt Hollywood Casino. A sociologist would perhaps have something to say about the fact that there is always money in America to rebuild casinos while the people of the town are still waiting for FEMA trailers and insurance settlements.

The surprise of the trip occurred after we checked into the hotel and I went with Ronnie, our driver, to scope out the location of the library and the places we would visit tomorrow. We drove along the Beach Road, looking like the surface of the moon almost two years after Katrina. In the course of the trip, Ronnie opened up to share his political views, predicting that history would be made in the next election when the first woman would be elected President of the United States. And further, he would help work for Hillary to make it so. Go Ronnie!

Today was a busy one. After spending the holiday in a Montgomery ghost town, this morning we all trekked up to the Southern Poverty Law Center. We started out spending some time in the Civil Rights Memorial Center, reading individual stories about those who had lost their lives in relation to the Civil Rights Movement. It was sobering to see the names of over 120 people who had died as a result of hate, both directed and random. Our guide, Andrew, spent an hour with us talking about the work of the SPLC. I was not familiar with this organization prior to this trip, then assumed that they had a narrow focus on racial civil rights issues. However, they are active in several areas. Andrew told us about a current project to address the problems with immigrants who suffer abuse through the guest worker program. He told us of workers who are promised good wages only to find that to make the wage they have to plant 2000 trees per day! Of course, that doesn’t happen. They get deeper into debt that they will never be able to repay, ending up modern-day slaves. He also showed us the Hate Map that the SPLC maintains. It was disturbing to see a group based in Clemmons (not to mention 3 in good old Winston-Salem.

After saying goodby to Montgomery (after returning briefly to our hotel for a pillow retrieval mission by David, and a bank run by Antonio), we headed to Selma to walk the Edmund Pettus Bridge and visit the George Washington Carver Homes. These were both important sites/landmarks in the March. The bridge walk was great, but I admit I felt vaguely uncomfortable walking down the street in the GWC Home area. I felt like I stood out like a sore thumb. It’s not that I felt unsafe, just uneasy. It also was sobering to visit the interior of the only neighborhood store. The clerk and the goods were located behind metal screening.

A librarian aside: Lynn and I noticed athletic shoes hanging over telephone wires in a few spots. When we pondered what the reason was, our students told us it indicates that drugs are sold there. Not doubting their explanation, but seeking more details, I Googled it this evening and found this interesting article on it from Snopes titled The Secret Language of Sneakers.

After a lovely Taco Bell lunch on the bus, we headed down into Mississippi to Bay St. Louis, where we are rooming at the Hollywood Casino. There’s fairly good Internet connectivity, tons of slot machines, no exercise room. But the good news is that Lynn and I found out we are eligible for tomorrow’s half price Senior Buffet. That’s good stuff!

This morning we went to the Civil Rights Memorial which is attached to the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery. We watched a movie on the purpose of the SPLC and walked around the museum. This is the only museum/memorial honoring the Civil Rights Movement in the entire country! I read over several stories about people who had been killed for deeds such as encouraging blacks to register to vote, but what stunned me was when I read about 5 individuals who have been killed in the last 10 years due to hate crimes. One man was killed after the September 11 attacks because he was wearing a turbin and “looked” like a terrorist. Another man was shot because of his sexual orientation. One young girl was killed because of her skin color and since she was MMR, she was an “easy target.” The SPLC addresses all of these issues and more; I had no idea how powerful it is. For example, the organization sued the United Klansmen of America a few years back and as a result, they had to give up their organization to the mother of a young African-American who was murdered. I would love to work for an organization so committed to social equity and the erasure of discrimination.

Afterwards, we drove an hour to Selma to see the bridge and the church where the famous walk began. The walk from Selma to Montgomery began at a church that MLK preached at, right beside the Carter Housing Projects. The area was obviously very poor and it was difficult for me to imagine living in that town today. Just at a glance, the town appeared to be exactly the same as it had been fifty years ago! We heard some stats on the bus, and proportionately this town has more crime and unemployment than even Montgomery and Birmingham, which are already way above the national average. This would make sense because crime seems to rise with poverty, and the town’s economy does not seem to be booming. The man at the SPLC said that these towns could make a lot of money in tourism if they made more memorials. I wonder if they are resisting that because of continuing racism or denial?

The last two days have my brain on overdrive. I have become in the last two days even more appreciative of the sacrifices people before me made so that I could attend an integrated public school system and have access to the higher educational institutions of my choice. I think about all of the things I take for granted in life, such as anytime I walk into a public restroom only checking to make sure I’ve got the sign designating the right gender, not concerning myself with a “Whites Only” marker. These things should not be considered as “taken for granted” since it is a basic human right but people before faced brutal consequences for much smaller than using the “wrong facility” that make me appreciate the peace of mind they have given me.

From walking around downtown Montgomery, I grappled with the juxtaposition of moving from a former Slave Market to Dexter Ave King Memorial Baptist Church up to the State House where on one side of the grounds sat a very large monument honoring the Confederate soldiers (and more so the Confederate cause, whether deemed historical or current) and then onto the Civil Rights Memorial Institute. Over and over, I kept asking myself how can the policy makers in the State House look at the window to see such a large Confederate Monument and truly implement and/or enforce policies and laws that had the best of ALL people in mind.

As I walked through the George Washington Carver Homes, thinking about the Confederate monument the lawmakers in Montgomery look out their window to see, I could still see Jim Crow hard at work. I do not want to make the assumption that the residents do not enjoy their life there, but I can’t help but feel their access to resources is limited. And then after hearing the low high school graduation rates and high poverty rates in Selma, it put into context what truly is happening today in this type of community. After walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge which symbolizes so much of the fight for freedom and equal opportunity, I wonder if the people in the Housing Projects feel like they have the opportunity (though they live in such a historical community) to be doctors, lawyers, farmers or whatever else they may want to be?

And then to hear the low numbers of Black students attending the flagship University of Alabama, it paints such a sad picture after seeing the places where so many people’s blood was shed just for such freedoms. Institutionalized racism is alive and well and the problem is many of us (of all races) don’t even know it.

Daily Journal/ 16^th Street Baptist Church:

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church of Birmingham, Alabama is a very historical church that I was able to attend. I truly enjoyed services this morning and I was used to the atmosphere of the church. I was raised and still attend a Black Baptist Church that is very similar to the 16^th Street Baptist Church. One of the most interesting aspects of the Church to me was the dynamics of the congregation. I expected a larger congregation but I think that the Church has probably been through a lot of changes within the past few years. The discussion that we had on the bus and in the smaller group in the restaurant was really insightful and interesting. I think the part of discussion that hit me the most was the points that people made about how the pastor addressed certain issues during the service. I find it interesting how the Black Baptist Church has such an important role in the community, with more than the religious aspect but also fighting against social injustices. The experience of going to such a historical church itself was really an amazing moment and I am glad we were able to attend their Sunday morning service.

Today, we drove to Montgomery, Alabama which is not very far from Birmingham. Going to the Wal Mart in Montgomery was interesting because it represented a central point in the city. I was also able to explore downtown Montgomery this evening with Kendra Stewart and Benny. We were able to see the point where the slave market was located in Montgomery, which is now very historical with markers and a beautiful fountain. The downtown Montgomery area seemed very abandoned and there was not a lot of commercial business. It was great seeing the historical, Dexter Baptist Church where Dr. King preached and has strong connections to the community. One of the more disturbing parts of the city’s historical and governmental areas was going to the state grounds and seeing the courtyard dedicated to the different Confederate flags. In the same area, there was the first White House for the Confederacy and a Civil Rights Memorial, with a beautiful monument based on a quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. Overall, I enjoyed walking through downtown Montgomery and seeing all of the important institutions and how they relate to one another. I enjoyed my experiences in Montgomery today and I am looking forward to spending more time in the capital city of Alabama.