Thurs, July 12, 2018

Montgomery, AL

This is being written after the fact.  I could not keep up with writing every night as I was totally wiped out by the day's activities.  The trip was not only physically tiring, but deeply emotional.  I needed more time to process than the schedule allowed, so I'm having to take my skimpy notes and re-construct.

July 12 -- the 120th anniversary of the date on which John Henry James was lynched in Albemarle County.  We are going to bring the soil from the site of his lynching to the Equal Justice Initiative's Legacy Museum .  Everyone has been anticipating this date as the culmination of our trip.  We all wore our special tee shirts that told the world that we were part of the Charlottesville Civil Rights Pilgrimage.

Our first stop was at the Southern Poverty Law Center's Civil Right Memorial.  I am inserting informationtion from Wikipedia to explain the concept of the memorial:The names included in the memorial belong to those who died between 1954 and 1968. Those dates were chosen because in 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools was unlawful and 1968 is the year of the assassination of Martin Luther King. The monument was created by Maya Lin, who is best known for creating the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.^[2] The Civil Rights Memorial was dedicated in 1989.^[1]

The concept of Lin's design is based on the soothing and healing effect of water. It was inspired by a paraphrase from King: "...we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream...." It is from the "I Have a Dream" speech, which was delivered at the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963.^[2] The passage in King's speech is a direct reference to Amos 5:24, as translated in the American Standard Version of the Bible. The memorial is a fountain in the form of an asymmetric inverted stone cone. A film of water flows over the base of the cone, which contains the 41 names included. It is possible to touch the smooth film of water and to alter it temporarily, which quickly returns to smoothness. As such, the memorial represents the aspirations of the civil rights movement to end legal racial segregation.

Unfortunately, construction at the site prevented us from getting close to this amazing memorial, and putting our hands into the water which continuously flows over the names.  I need to go back to do that.  

The exhibits at the Center were powerful in a totally different way than the others we have seen.  There are holographic figures which appear somewhat ghostly, in settings that are not necessarily comfortable to view.  I found myself really affected by this museum and will be thinking about it for a long time.

From the Memorial Center we went to the Dexter Ave. King Memorial Church where MLK preached and led the Montgomery bus boycott.  When we entered the church we were greeted by two Black women, one of whom was giving out the most amazing hugs ever !!  I felt blessed by that hug !!  The other woman, Wanda, was our guide and was so full of the Spirit that it just spilled out everywhere !  

A real treat was that Dante Walker, 15 year old son of Charlottesville mayor Nikayah Walker, played the piano for us.  I believe the piece he was playing was by Tchaikovsky; whatever it was, it was beautiful.  That young man is so very talented and it was so gracious of him to share his gift with us.  

The basement of the church houses the office that belonged to Dr. King when he was pastor from 1954-1960.  What simple surroundings !  Once more, I had the feeling of being in a sacred space.  

Even now, it is difficult for me to remember the exact order of the day !!  We went to the offices of the Equal Justice Initiative, where we were honored to be addressed by Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of EFI and author of Just Mercy, a powerful book that I read a couple of years ago.  He is so passionate for the work of bringing about justice for everyone in this country.  A daunting task !!  It has not existed since our very inception as a nation.

Following the time at the EJI offices, we went to their Legacy Museum which focuses on the issue of Mass Incarceration as a direct legacy of our history of enslaving people of color.  More powerful images, but I have to admit that I was feeling on overload and wanting to get to the Memorial to Peace and Justice .  I had some anxiety about what type of emotional reaction I might have to the Memorial as I was feeling pretty raw.  I wondered how this was for my companions who are Black.  I am assuming that they were feeling even more raw.

Here is some information from the internet about the memorial :More than 4400 African American men, women, and children were hanged, burned alive, shot, drowned, and beaten to death by white mobs between 1877 and 1950. Millions more fled the South as refugees from racial terrorism, profoundly impacting the entire nation. Until now, there has been no national memorial acknowledging the victims of racial terror lynchings. On a six-acre site atop a rise overlooking Montgomery, the national lynching memorial is a sacred space for truth-telling and reflection about racial terror in America and its legacy..

The memorial structure on the center of the site is constructed of over 800 corten steel monuments, one for each county in the United States where a racial terror lynching took place. The names of the lynching victims are engraved on the columns. The memorial is more than a static monument. In the six-acre park surrounding the memorial is a field of identical monuments, waiting to be claimed and installed in the counties they represent. Over time, the national memorial will serve as a report on which parts of the country have confronted the truth of this terror and which have not.

The memorial is overwhelming  !  Upon entering the site, one is confronted by an amazing sculpture of several African individuals in chains.   Their bodies and faces scream with the terror of what they are experiencing.  I could have just sat with that for quite a long time.  One more time on this trip I was asking myself about the type of person who could be confronted with this level of suffering and perpetrate it.  How could people live with themselves after selling other humans into slavery ?  How could the police and ordinary ( ?) citizens who participated in lynchings look at themselves in the mirror and not see their savagery ?  What scars did they carry ?  Was it possible to dehumanize the other so thoroughly that these things didn't trouble them at any level ?  What happened to children who were witnesses to the atrocities ?   

Walking up the hill to the square area that contains the over 800 coffin-sized modules that represent the counties in which lynchings have been documented, I felt an actual sense of dread.  I didn't want to see the names !  It all seemed too much.  Those feelings were the reason that I didn't spend a great deal of time in that space.  I wish now I had spent longer, but at the time I just needed to get some distance.  I need to sit with that.

Wed., July 11, 2018
Birmingham, Alabama
The first visit on today's itinerary was to the 16th St. Baptist Church, the site of a bombing on the 15th of Sept., 1963, a Sunday morning.  Members of the KKK planted 15 sticks of dynamite on the East side of the church with a timing device.  The blast killed 4 young black girls who were in a restroom getting changed for choir.  The church is now a National Historic Landmark, under the umbrella of the National Park Service.  It was amazing to be at a site that I had seen so many times in news films.  I kept thinking about the girls who were killed.  What an awful thing, to not even be able to be safe in your place of worship.  And it is happening again.  That breaks my heart and makes my blood boil.  I think about the parents, siblings, and friends of those girls.  What must they have thought about the presence of God in their lives on that day ?  Was their faith profoundly shaken ?  Mine is shaken, even at this distance in time.
The gentleman who gave us the tour did a fine job of presenting the history of the church in the period immediately preceding the bombing, during which the church had become a hub of resistance activity for the Black community.  Churches were some of the few places that large groups of Blacks could gather, due to the oppressive segregationist laws in Birmingham.
During the questions following the official tour talk, someone asked about the situation today for black citizens of the city.  The tour guide indicated that things were pretty good and that , in general, black people were doing okay.  A black gentleman sitting among us stood and rebutted that in a very moving way.  His name is Dr. Latting, and he is a retired internist/cardiologist in the city.  He talked about the housing issues and the huge wealth gap that exists between Blacks and Whites, among other current problems.  He made a huge impression on many of us .
At the front side of the church, opposite the altar is an amazing stained glass window that was given to the congregation in 1965 by the people of Wales, UK, to honor the lives lost here.  It is an image of a Black Jesus on the cross, his right hand raised palm outward to fend off oppression and his left hand extended, offering forgiveness.   It is a powerful image and the story really caught me.  The people of Wales were wanting to acknowledge the awfulness of the event and commemorate those lives lost than were the people of the US.  Many in Birmingham and other parts of the US supported the violence against those who resisted and pushed back against segregation.  White supremacy was in evidence everywhere in our nation and the rest of the world was watching.  So it is now.
Across the street from the church is Kelly Ingram Park, where Birmingham police used fire hoses, batons, and dogs against demonstrators in May of 1963.  Some of the children among the demonstrators were as young as 6 !  What kinds of scars were they left with ?  What kinds of people manned the hoses , wielded the batons, and handled the dogs ?  What kind of scars were they left with after participating in such inhumane ( inhuman) events ?  The park contains statues of the dogs, the people, the firehose cannons, and other elements of that day in May.  Walking through it felt like walking on holy ground.   I kept thinking of my much-loved grandchildren and how it would be to be a part of a community in which I felt so terrorized every day and so desperate for change that I would be willing to have them participate in demonstrations that carried such high risk.  Once again on this trip, I felt my heart breaking.

Next stop was the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.  The exhibits in this museum really brought the extent of the barriers placed in front of Black citizens because of segregation.  I was especially struck by the reproductions of two classrooms from 1953.  The White classroom has modern ( to that period ) classroom furnishings, very good lighting, and new-looking textbooks.  The Black classroom is dimly lit, has antiquated furniture, a wood stove, and no evidence of books.  Separate but equal ?????
The museum does a good job of chronicling the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham and connecting it to other important sites.  Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was a noteworthy leader here and worked with MLK.  The cell from which MLK wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is replicated, but has the original cell door and bed.  It was moving to me to see the small, mean, space in which such a big spirit had been incarcerated because he led a movement for justice.
The other exhibit that made a lasting impression on me was a replicated courtroom with a lone figure of an African-American man seated in the witness chair.  African -Americans were pretty much on their own when in court.  There was no system of public defenders; juries were all-white.  Above the seated figure, on the courtroom wall, is a quote from Thomas Jefferson: Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion.  I was thinking:  WHAT A LOT OF BS !!

After lunch  we loaded the buses and started out for Montgomery.  A change of route meant that we had the opportunity to walk across the Pettus Bridge in Selma !  Talk about feeling as though one was treading on sacred ground !  The bridge itself is smaller than it appeared to me all the times I have seen it on TV or film.  It is only ¼ mile long, but I was imagining that it must have seemed many times longer to the people marching across it to face the hatred on the other side.  At the end of the bridge is a memorial area with a number of plaques and a simulated lynching tree.  Also, there is a gazebo on the riverbank.  Don Gathers led those of us from Bus #2 in an impromptu prayer circle, which was just the right thing .  The prayers offered were heartfelt and deep.  Certainly the Spirit was among us.

Atlanta

July 11, 2018.
Last night I was just too tired to pull my thoughts together!  Now I have to try and recap two very intense days.
Tues. began in Atlanta with a visit to the MLK National Historic Site, which encompasses three buildings.  The Center for Civil and Human Rights chronicles the American Civil Rights Movement as well as movements for human rights in places around the world.   There are many depictions of the brutal and dehumanizing ways in which Blacks were treated as they fought against segregation in the South and for voting rights and an end to recriminatory laws and practices across the country.  The amount of suffering the resistors were able to ensure is staggering.  One particularly distressing display features a reproduced section of a lunch counter such as those found in Greensboro and other places where there were sit-ins.  There are seats at the counter .  In front of each seat is hanging a set of headphones.  Once the visitor has sat don he or she is told to put on the headphones, lay their palms on the counter and close their eyes.  Almost immediately one hears voices making somewhat lewd comments, the the volume increases and racial slurs are being shouted from what seems to be all sides.  There are loud, sudden noises that resemble shots or small explosions at times I could almost feel hot breath on my neck!  I have no idea how the young people sold it forvsevealndays at a time.  I also cannot understand the mind-set of those perpetrating this ugliness.  That kind of hate seems so foreign to me.  Participating in this interactive display was unsettling, to say the least.
I was quite moved by seeing the mule wagon that carried MLKs body from the Church.  Just the idea that a man who worked so hard for peaceful soulutions would be killed makes me so sad. MLK and Coretta ‘s tombs are at the site.  Another moving experience.
After the Center, we moved to Ebenezer Baptist Church, at which both MLK’s grandfather and father were pastors an which he Co-pastored for a time.  It was interesting to be in that space, and to hear parts of MLK’s story with which I wasn’t familiar.
From the church we walked to MLK’s birth home .  The neighborhood of Sweet Auburn was once a quite wealthy Bkack neighborhood, but which also provided housing for lower income families.  The neighborhood is being revitalized in a way that seeks to preserve both the historicity of the area and the affordability.  Over a delicious lunch we heard from the executive director of the Historic District Development Corporation, which is the entity working with local government and others to achieve that goal.  She is another African American woman of great presence.  We have encountered quite a few of those along the way!
 We drove to Burmingham after a delicious, but chaotic-feeling dinner.  It was interesting that, after dinner, when live music started the group had some loud and rather frenetic dancing for a while.  We all needed to unwind a bit,  this is intense!
A late, late night.

Phew!  Yesterday was a tiring and, for me, an emotionally draining day !  We began the Day at the Beloved Community Center in Greensboro.  This is how their website describes them:  The Beloved Community Center of Greensboro, North Carolina (BCC) is a community-based, grassroots empowerment oriented organization rooted in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy of proactive struggles for racial and economic justice, democracy and beloved community, the BCC is committed to grassroots empowerment, especially among minorities, within the context and spirit of forging a beloved community for all residents.  It is definitely faith-based , and the feel of the place is like that of a church.  Rev. Nelson Johnson and his wife, Joyce, spoke to us at some lengths about their experiences working in the Civil Rights Movement of the 59s and 60s and continuing to work for justice and racial healing into the present.  I so admire people like them, willing to give all in this work,yet seeming to continue to carry hope and joy.  They are so strong.  It was another gift to be in their presence and hear part of their story. I am always moved and inspired by people whose strong faith leads them to work for and with the poor and oppressed. 
After our time at Beloved Community we went to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, housed in the Woolworth’s store that was the scene of the widely-known sit- ins from 1960.  The actual lunch counter has been preserved .  Being in that space felt like being on holy ground. Those boys were so very brave.     Our tour guide was great, and certainly didn’t whitewash any of the awful history of how white America has consistently oppressed people of color, particularly African-Americans.  My grief felt overwhelming in several of the exhibits.  I heard so many expressions of grief and also anger from my Black companions. I can only imagine.

After lunch we headed to Charlotte, arriving there in the late afternoon.  We had a visit to the Museum of the New South.  Interesting, but rather rushed.  The upstairs, which’s entitled K(no)w Justice, K(no)w Peace, deals with police shootings of mostly unarmed Black men.  It was tough to see.  

Dinner was at a place called Chuy’ s, a Mexican restaurant .  Good food, so laughs with new friends, Elsie, Courtney, and Jakia.  It was noisy and chaotic , but I was able to enjoy the meal and even had a Corona!

We got to Atlanta at about midnight, which is why I didn’t write last night.  A good night’s sleep and a satisfying breakfast have made me ready for another day.

It’s now 9:20 PM  on Sunday evening.  We’re at a Doublrtree hotel in Greensboro,  NC, and I’m exhausted!
Our first stop today was at Appomattox, the site of the surrender by Robert E, Lee  to  Ulysses Grant that ended the Civil War on April 12,
Today was a perfectly lovely day, with temps in the lower 70s, clear blue skies, and a little breeze.  The Appomattox NP is , at this time in history a lovely site amid rolling green pastures and with towering trees .  I had a hard time getting my head around the idea of gunfire, bloody men screaming in pain, the General tumult of War.  A park ranger did a good job of presenting information about the various maneuvers by each side in the days leading up to the surrender, but it was hard to connect her talk with any real humanity. I enjoyed talking some with a group of re-enactors, though.  There was not much in their conversation or the ranger talk that related to what, if any, role, the black folks of the area played.  I enjoyed strolling around, but left feeling somewhat disappointed.
Next stop: Danville,  VA. WE were welcomed to town by the site of a huge Confederate  flag .  To be fair, there is ongoing controversy about its presence. We visited the Fine Arts Museum, which is House in a historic ante-vellum mansion that was owned by a Colonel Southerin who was a tobacco grower and one of the founding fathers of the town.  The film was made in 1999 and is AWFUL,  It is made to appear that Mr Southerin acquired his great wealth and was able to establish the town all due to his own efforts.  Little or no mention was
Made of the enslaved people who grew and picked and processed his tobacco.  A very slanted view of history, several of our black pilgrims voiced their anger and distress at the film being shown to our group.  I could feel my usual discomfort with confrontation, but took some deep breaths and made myself engage in conversation during the break that followed.  It’s so interesting to hear all the various perspectives, if I can just stay in the room — emotionally as well as physically!  Once again I was taught to not assume that I know how someone else sees the world!
After a break, we heard from a panel of older black people who had participated in the protests and demonstrations for Civil Rights that occurred in the summer of 1963.  Danville, as it turns out, was an extremely segregated place and very difficult for Black people to live in.  Hearing the stories of these folks was moving .  They were all so young at that time, yet had stood up to White supremely and extreme forms of racism.  I kept thinking about how clueless I was at that time — being in college and only marginally aware of all that was happening outside of my own little world.  There is a certain shame that comes with those memories.
I won’t even go into the chaos of arriving at our hotel!  Suffice it to say that dinner was a time of some real sharing , especially by one black woman who had been really affected by today’s events and shared some difficult parts of her own story as a black mother raising four sons in Charlottesville.  I was so impressed by her willingness to open herself.  She gave us at the table a real gift.  We need to handle it with great tenderness.
Now i’m Off to bed!  Breakfast starts at 6!!

Trying to get 100 people on buses and underway is tricky!  We’ve been sitting since 7 !  My impatience is showing !
It’s challenging  to remember all the names!  So many new people at once !

8: 49 and we’re finally moving!

Tomorrow morning I will be part of a group of about 100 folks leaving Charlottesville on a Civil Rights Pilgrimage to the new Memorial to Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL.  I am looking forward to this trip with such a mixed bag of feelings !
My most over-riding feeling right now is anxiety.  I am basically an introvert and am wondering how it will be to spend 6 days with 100 other people !  We are traveling by bus, with quite a number of stops at sites that have been significant in the struggle for Civil Rights for African Americans, but mostly everything will be done as a group.  Already I am outside my comfort zone !!!
Fortunately, I have as my roommate a younger woman whom I have known for quite a long time.  I was dreading having to room with a total stranger !!
In addition to being anxious , I am feeling really curious about how this trip will play out.  It seems a wonderful opportunity to meet a variety of people and build relationships.  I am convinced that we need more opportunities to share our stories in order to move forward towards healing the racial divide that so scars our nation.  I hope to have the privilege of hearing other peoples' stories and sharing some of my own in order to discover those things that can bring us together in our humanness. Who will I become acquainted with this week?  How will  our lives intertwine ?
Early today about 250 people gathered at the Jefferson School for a Community Discussion About Lynching.  We watched the video made earlier at the site of the lynching of John Henry James, where soil was collected.  The ritual of the soil collection was moving, and felt to me like a sacred ceremony such as a funeral.  An actual funeral was denied Mr. James and so many others who were victims of lynching..
The movie "Outrage" was shown also.  It is a short documentary film about lynching.  In the making of the film a number of people were interviewed who are descendants of lynching victims.  Their stories are emotionally very powerful and demonstrate the long-lasting effects that these types of inhumane events have on their victims.  What I would find interesting is if one could talk to people whose ancestors had been part of the mobs that perpetrated these murders --- or whose ancestors had been spectators at the actual events.  What kinds of scars are left on their souls ?
It's now late in the afternoon and I'm exhausted !!  Have to meet the bus at 7 AM !  I am looking forward to actually beginning !