Miles today: 200
Miles total: nearly 4,000 in 21 days!
Today, we headed back to Richmond. The end of the course is always bittersweet. Students are excited to move on to their summer plans - travel, internships, work, or enrolling in other classes - and to not live out of their duffel bags any longer (suitcases are not allowed on the trip; there's no room in the van for them!). Brian and I are always excited to read their journals and final projects, which gives us another space to reflect on the trip and what the students took from it.
In our parting discussion with the students, we returned to one of the main themes of the trip - what the CR movement has accomplished and what is left to do. We envision the trip as a space for students not only to learn about Civil Rights history, but also to grapple with how activism and working toward social justice and issues of equality for all people will factor into their lives. I have begun to read their student journals, and the sites that meant the most to them were those that connect past and present activism - namely Highlander, which continues to work on issues of environmental justice, poverty, and immigration, and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which continues to monitor and prosecute hate groups across the U.S. I hope this leaves them well-poised to integrate their historical knowledge into present-day activism...
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Day 20: Charleston, SC - Greensboro, NC
Miles today: 300
Miles total: 3750
Today, we traveled for several hours to Greensboro, the site of the 1960 sit-ins at the downtown Woolworth's. A statue commemorating the first 4 students to initiate the sit-ins (all from North Carolina A&T) stands prominently on the NCA&T campus. Downtown, the Woolworth's site is being converted into an international Civil Rights museum, although the museum has faced a series of delays over several years, and there is still no opening day in sight.
Throughout the trip, students have been grappling with the role of MLK in the movement. While many of them respect his role as the movement's charismatic leader, they have been to many sites that focus so heavily on him that few other activists are mentioned. Thus it was fitting to meet with Tom Jackson, a scholar at UNC-Greensboro who studies MLK, to get his perspectives on the commemoration of King and how we view King today in terms of his work in the movement. Tom showed us some of his research, which showed that the New York Times published more articles on the assassination of King than it did on all of his work combined from 1960-1968. His talk gave us a lot to think about in terms of the politics of memory and commemoration, the role of the media, and why many local leaders/activists receive little to no mention in the standard Civil Rights narrative.
[My camera is being testy, so here's a shot of the Woolworth's building from last year's course.]
Miles total: 3750
Today, we traveled for several hours to Greensboro, the site of the 1960 sit-ins at the downtown Woolworth's. A statue commemorating the first 4 students to initiate the sit-ins (all from North Carolina A&T) stands prominently on the NCA&T campus. Downtown, the Woolworth's site is being converted into an international Civil Rights museum, although the museum has faced a series of delays over several years, and there is still no opening day in sight.
Throughout the trip, students have been grappling with the role of MLK in the movement. While many of them respect his role as the movement's charismatic leader, they have been to many sites that focus so heavily on him that few other activists are mentioned. Thus it was fitting to meet with Tom Jackson, a scholar at UNC-Greensboro who studies MLK, to get his perspectives on the commemoration of King and how we view King today in terms of his work in the movement. Tom showed us some of his research, which showed that the New York Times published more articles on the assassination of King than it did on all of his work combined from 1960-1968. His talk gave us a lot to think about in terms of the politics of memory and commemoration, the role of the media, and why many local leaders/activists receive little to no mention in the standard Civil Rights narrative.
[My camera is being testy, so here's a shot of the Woolworth's building from last year's course.]
Day 19: Charleston, SC - Johns Island, SC
Miles today: 50
Miles total: 3450
After spending the morning in Charleston, we drove to Johns Island with Prof. Millicent Brown. Septima Clark and Esau Jenkins worked tirelessly for decades conducting citizenship schools on the sea islands. Both frequently went to Highlander for training and to train others, and it was through this education that many African Americans on the island learned to read and how to register to vote. We stopped by Moving Star Hall (a small building used as one of the citizenship school locations) and Esau Jenkins' grave site.
Millicent was one of the first African Americans to attend a formerly all-white school in the city of Charleston. Her father worked as the head of South Carolina NAACP, and in tenth grade, she and one other Black student prepared to enter the local white high school. Millicent talked about her experiences during those three years of high school, and she is currently working on a project called "Somebody Had To Do It" - with Connie Curry who we met in Atlanta - which will locate and connect the first African American students to attend formerly all-white schools across the U.S.
Miles total: 3450
After spending the morning in Charleston, we drove to Johns Island with Prof. Millicent Brown. Septima Clark and Esau Jenkins worked tirelessly for decades conducting citizenship schools on the sea islands. Both frequently went to Highlander for training and to train others, and it was through this education that many African Americans on the island learned to read and how to register to vote. We stopped by Moving Star Hall (a small building used as one of the citizenship school locations) and Esau Jenkins' grave site.
Millicent was one of the first African Americans to attend a formerly all-white school in the city of Charleston. Her father worked as the head of South Carolina NAACP, and in tenth grade, she and one other Black student prepared to enter the local white high school. Millicent talked about her experiences during those three years of high school, and she is currently working on a project called "Somebody Had To Do It" - with Connie Curry who we met in Atlanta - which will locate and connect the first African American students to attend formerly all-white schools across the U.S.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Day 18: Savannah, GA - Charleston, SC
Miles today: 150
Miles total: 3400
Today, we toured the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum in Savannah, which succinctly chronicles Savannah's Civil Rights history. The museum continues to undergo renovation and expansion. The students then had some free time to see Savannah (despite the 100 degree heat) before we left for Charleston.
Miles total: 3400
Today, we toured the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum in Savannah, which succinctly chronicles Savannah's Civil Rights history. The museum continues to undergo renovation and expansion. The students then had some free time to see Savannah (despite the 100 degree heat) before we left for Charleston.
Day 17: Atlanta, GA - Savannah, GA
Miles today: 250 miles
Miles total: 3250 miles
We met with activist/writer/filmmaker Connie Curry this morning. Connie was an adult advisor to SNCC (the Student Non-Violence Coordinating Committee) from its inception, and she worked with the organization in the early 1960s throughout the South. She is working on her 5th book related to the Civil Rights movement, and her activism continues today with work on prison reform. Students watched her film, The Intolerable Burden which chronicles school desegregation in the Mississippi Delta, two weeks earlier before we entered the Delta. Then we headed over to the MLK National Historic Site, which includes a museum, MLK's birth home, and his tomb. We dropped by Atlanta University Center to see the campuses of Morehouse and Spelman on the way out of town.
Miles total: 3250 miles
We met with activist/writer/filmmaker Connie Curry this morning. Connie was an adult advisor to SNCC (the Student Non-Violence Coordinating Committee) from its inception, and she worked with the organization in the early 1960s throughout the South. She is working on her 5th book related to the Civil Rights movement, and her activism continues today with work on prison reform. Students watched her film, The Intolerable Burden which chronicles school desegregation in the Mississippi Delta, two weeks earlier before we entered the Delta. Then we headed over to the MLK National Historic Site, which includes a museum, MLK's birth home, and his tomb. We dropped by Atlanta University Center to see the campuses of Morehouse and Spelman on the way out of town.
Day 16: Birmingham, AL - Atlanta, GA
Miles today: 200 miles
Miles total: 3000 miles
We toured the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and Kelly Ingram Park today. The BCRI is the most extensive museum on the tour, with the exception of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. It also does the best job of linking the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s with present-day human rights concerns around the world.
Miles total: 3000 miles
We toured the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and Kelly Ingram Park today. The BCRI is the most extensive museum on the tour, with the exception of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. It also does the best job of linking the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s with present-day human rights concerns around the world.
Day 15: Montgomery, AL - Birmingham, AL
Miles today: 100
Miles total: 2800
Today, we visited the Rosa Parks museum in Montgomery, and we met with the museum's Executive Director, Georgette Norman, while there. Then we went to see the state capitol, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (which King pastored when he moved to Montgomery), and the Southern Poverty Law Center. We also had an impromptu meeting with the director of the SPLC's Civil Rights museum. The small museum focuses on the violent deaths of those in the South during the Civil Rights movement, and it contains a wall of tolerance where visitors can pledge to end intolerance and add their names to the wall. Unlike the other sites, the SPLC has extensive security; the Klan torched their offices in the 1980s, and they still receive frequent threats of violence today. A couple of students have noted the SPLC site as one of their favorites.
Miles total: 2800
Today, we visited the Rosa Parks museum in Montgomery, and we met with the museum's Executive Director, Georgette Norman, while there. Then we went to see the state capitol, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (which King pastored when he moved to Montgomery), and the Southern Poverty Law Center. We also had an impromptu meeting with the director of the SPLC's Civil Rights museum. The small museum focuses on the violent deaths of those in the South during the Civil Rights movement, and it contains a wall of tolerance where visitors can pledge to end intolerance and add their names to the wall. Unlike the other sites, the SPLC has extensive security; the Klan torched their offices in the 1980s, and they still receive frequent threats of violence today. A couple of students have noted the SPLC site as one of their favorites.
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