The first full day in Montgomery I learned about the walk for voting privileges. The walk was from Selma Alabama to Montgomery but first we learned about the racial tension that was occurring in Montgomery and the whole time I was thinking how could white people do or treat other human beings like they did, how could they not acknowledge the fact that black people breathe the same air they breathe. I had built up a lot of animosity in heart towards white people during that time and at times I know that it probably showed on my face to my peers that I was anger, upset and mad. I was really bothered by things that happened to my people during that time of history. I just could not understand how a human being can treat another human being like trash. But when professor Hattery and Smith put in document about this white man that basically gave up his life to help the black the people, it total changed my views from seeing all white people as the same during that time.

Today we celebrated Memorial Day and had a cookout. We had a lot of bounding times as a group. It seemed as if we got lost for a second but our SUPER bus driver Ronnie got us back on the right track. We stop to a local store and got hamburger patties, hot dogs, chips, water and soda for cookout. The food was great and I have to give it up for SUPER Ronnie for making it happen.

While we were waiting on the food to get done cooking we started to explore the historical sight that they had there. The historical place was mainly about the walk from Selma to Montgomery. While in the historical place we tent that people lived in because they had lost their jobs because they wanted to vote. We watched a document that basically explained everything that we saw and after our exploring we had a great cookout.

The street that led up to the state’s capital building that capstoned the March from Selma originated from the town square that was the site of Montgomery’s trade of enslaved persons and where Mrs. Rosa Parks stood up for justice and equality by sitting down.  As I stood in the deserted space across from Dexter Avenue King Baptist Church which is nestled between numerous government buildings (the capital, SPLC, safety building, courts, etc.), the occupied police car did not move.

As I contemplate what message my “afro-d” presence might have sent then, memories flood my mind of averted and astonished glances along this journey that have made for solid reflection conversations and noticeable discomfort.  I find it appropriate that we are lodging at a casino/hotel for the next few days where I’ve seen a young girl emerge from a pool to wrap herself in the “stars and bars” of the Confederacy, giving voice to the awkward looks and attempts at discrete conversations that happen as people move to the slot machines.

Perhaps the whole of our group’s presence here in the American South is a gamble…

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.

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 …..

During our second day in Montgomery, our visit to the Selma to Montgomery Interpretive center was incredibly moving to me through the film that we watched as well as the way that our group met the gentleman whose picture was in the museum from where he participated in the march to Montgomery was another moment in our trip that really touched me emotionally through his testimony about what he personally risked his life to obtain.

While the museum was incredibly moving, I found myself incredibly distracted by Dr. Smith’s testimony about his experience in the Vietnam War, where he and his comrades were fighting for their country, but denied the right to vote. There is a Langston Hughes poem entitled “Will V-Day Be Me-Day Too?”, which kept running through my mind as I listened to what Dr. Smith had to say about this experience. I’m going to attach a copy of this when we get to where I can post it with my post.

The walking tour downtown to the original slave market from Montgomery’s early days as well as to the Dexter Street Baptist Church, which Dr. Martin Luther King was the pastor at and the Alabama state capital building was an amazing experience, which brought many controversial items, such as the Confederate memorial and the statue of
Jefferson Davis, to the attention of our group, as well as many interesting conversations, which I will allow my peers to bring up if they wish to because I do not feel comfortable discussing some of their discussions.

Will V-Day be Me Day too? written by Langston Hughes

Over There,
World War II.

Dear Fellow Americans,
I write this letter
Hoping times will be better
When this war
Is through.
I’m a Tan-skinned Yank
Driving a tank.
I ask, WILL V-DAY
BE ME-DAY, TOO?

I wear a U. S. uniform.
I’ve done the enemy much harm,
I’ve driven back
The Germans and the Japs,
From Burma to the Rhine.
On every battle line,
I’ve dropped defeat
Into the Fascists’ laps.

I am a Negro American
Out to defend my land
Army, Navy, Air Corps–
I am there.
I take munitions through,
I fight–or stevedore, too.
I face death the same as you do
Everywhere.

I’ve seen my buddy lying
Where he fell.
I’ve watched him dying
I promised him that I would try
To make our land a land
Where his son could be a man–
And there’d be no Jim Crow birds
Left in our sky.

So this is what I want to know:
When we see Victory’s glow,
Will you still let old Jim Crow
Hold me back?
When all those foreign folks who’ve waited–
Italians, Chinese, Danes–are liberated.
Will I still be ill-fated
Because I’m black?

Here in my own, my native land,
Will the Jim Crow laws still stand?
Will Dixie lynch me still
When I return?
Or will you comrades in arms
From the factories and the farms,
Have learned what this war
Was fought for us to learn?

When I take off my uniform,
Will I be safe from harm–
Or will you do me
As the Germans did the Jews?
When I’ve helped this world to save,
Shall I still be color’s slave?
Or will Victory change
Your antiquated views?

You can’t say I didn’t fight
To smash the Fascists’ might.
You can’t say I wasn’t with you
in each battle.
As a soldier, and a friend.
When this war comes to an end,
Will you herd me in a Jim Crow car
Like cattle?

Or will you stand up like a man
At home and take your stand
For Democracy?
That’s all I ask of you.
When we lay the guns away
To celebrate
Our Victory Day
WILL V-DAY BE ME-DAY, TOO?
That’s what I want to know.

Sincerely,
GI Joe.