Days 2 through 5 -- Soaking In Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery

Its been a long couple days, as you can probably tell by my lack of blogging lately. So I'm going to give you a brief summary of the last 3 days.   After our stay with the Quaker family in northern Alabama we began to travel to certain historical landmarks in Montgomery and Birmingham.

I am soaking in the cultural significance of such sites as the 16th street baptist church, home of infamous church bombings of 1963, which claimed the lives of four young girls and sparked rebellious conflicts that's helped fuel the civil rights movement.

The capitol in Birmingham, AL.

In Montgomery, we visited the state capital, which overlooked the civil rights memorial with the inscription: "until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream" -MLK.  This quote symbolizes how the injustices of the world should be overrun by the natural flow of justice.  However, I could not help but witness the irony of our surroundings as I learned that the capital which overlooked the memorial, was built by slaves, the same people who escaped through the underground railroad.  (also, see video link below)

Edmond Pettus bridge; site of
Selma to Montgomery March

 I experienced the same ironic feeling yesterday when SnR visited Selma, the home of the 3 marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge; home of "Bloody Sunday."  For all of those who aren't familiar with the meaning of the marches, as I was not days ago,  the marches were non-violent protests against poll taxes and the other injustices that prevented African Americans from casting their ballots. Bloody Sunday was when the local police unleashed a variety of "crowd control " tactics against the protestors.  Many people lost their lives to the onslaught of tear gas, police brutality, and attack dogs. Yet as I walked through Selma, I could not help but notice how the current city seemingly failed the expectations that  the protestors had fought for.


We met wonderful and generous people in Selma. By no means am I trying to disparage the city. Yet at the same time certain aspects of the city stood out to me, such as the 50% drop out rate, or the fact that our hosts, who were lifelong residents, didn't feel safe traveling to a gas station alone at night. In fact, after Selma began to break the boundaries of racial injustice, the white population relocated. So far on this trip I have noticed how our present racial conditions seem to have come out differently then what our forefathers fought for. People have just begun to know how lucky they are to have the freedoms they enjoy today. At a certain point in time simply getting a drink of water could lead to a body hanging in the trees. And maybe I am overemphasizing the issue, but it's just one recurring theme that I've started to observe through this trip.

June 18, 10:31 pm

Video - Discussing Alabama Black Legislators during Reconstruction


http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/h358/Spokenrev/UGRR%20Tour/?action=view&current=061411160340.mp4
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