Last Day!!!! Kelley's group

Last Day!!!!!

I know I am a little late, but I wanted to take the time.... :)

"You never know what will have such a great effect on your life, that you will change it."
This was what stuck out to me when Dr. Leslie McLemore spoke to us at Jackson State University.
I guess that this tour has a greater effect on each of our lives than we can possibly imagine right now. I know that I find myself thinking more about this issue each day and trying to figure out how I can take part in this movement which is still going on today. Even though I am not even an American citizen and having grown up in Germany, I think I can make a difference. When we were in Selma and experienced what Africans had to go through on the Middle Passage, I started thinking about the history of my own country. It makes me feel sad how history seems to repeat itself over and over again. This tour made me more aware of the race issue and how it is still going on today. When the different countries could be learning from each other, why aren't they? One of my goals for my experience here in the United States of America was to leave with more knowledge about this issue. I am fortunate to live with three African Americans and to get a close insight of their culture. And now after taking part in this amazing trip, I feel like I also got an insight of their backgrounds and history. It seems like I am taking more home than I can carry. Thanks to all the amazing people I got to meet and to the great small group discussions, I think that I will be able to process what I learned and to find out how this is going to effect my life.
I hope that many more can participate in the Civil Rights Tour and be able to relive those historic moments of America's past. Civil Rights are still an issue today not only in America but all over the world. Every single person, wherever he or she might live, can change this fact and contribute to a better world.
It is difficult to bring all my thoughts and feelings together. I still feel so overwhelmed. But I also know that my life already changed.
I want to say thank you to Baylor and all the great people who made this trip possible.
And to all my new friends: You are all amazing people, I feel so blessed to be able to get to know y'all!
Conny Michaelis

Montgomery/Jackson

SO, today is the last night of the trip and I must say that it truly was a life changing experience. When I first signed up to go I almost had a change of heart, I wondered if I should just do the same old, same old for spring break and go home, sleep in late, wake up in the evenings, yeah just completely become a lazy bum for a week. But I am VERY greatful that I made the decision to be involved in the Civil Rights Tour.

Yesterday, we visited Selma, Alabama, a city which played a vital role in the Civil Rights movement. Though a quiet little city, it was as if I could still hear the singing of African Americans longing for their freedom, just to be given the treatment they deserved. One of my favorite parts of yesterday was when we visited the museum in which we were able to role play directly, as if we were slaves who had been dragged into a new world in which the language, customs, and people were foreign and you were beaten and called everything but a child of God because of it. It enabled the group to be able to open up to the issue of race without having to walk on egg shells, which is a major problem in our world today, instead of just talking about our issues and letting each other know how we feel, we sometimes tend to be afraid that we're going to offend someone. I learned a lot from the people in the group, especially those of different races, when it came to the issue of race.

Today in Jackson, Mississippi our visit focused mainly on the issue of poverty, which is MAJOR in this state, esp in the Mississippi Delta. It's sad what these individuals have to face, and the decisions they have to make that ultimately take a GREAT toll on their futures. I can honestly say that I'm greatful for how God has blessed me and I feel that I'm called to bless and encourage others. I'm also interested in the initiatives that Jackson State University has taken and the programs they have created for their students, hopefully as we progress, Baylor will be able to do the same.

**Shout out to EVERYONE who was a part of the Civil Rights Tour 2010, yall are an AwEsOmE bunch and I'm glad I was able to spend the last week getting to know each one of you!**

Glad to be headed back to Texas in the morning, and for that reason I must call it a night, for my body is tired but my spirit will fight on for the cause...

Jessica Evans

Last Day of the Civil Rights tour..... what can I say??

Well first and foremost, I would like to express what a substantially great experience this trip has been. I feel that I have connected with my ancestors on an intimate level. I feel as though I can empathize and be pull to tears when thinking about all of the strife that African Americans have truly gone through. Surprisingly, my feelings of sorrow reinforce my the pride and joy of my heritage! Another aspect of this trip has been seeing the world through a pair of Caucasian eyes. I am so happy to have gone this trip with white people because their emotional responses make me smile. Because at the end of the day, we all realize the tragedy that happened throughout American history concerning African Americans. Therefore, we can all move forward with a mentality that strengthens all colors. Of course, not everyone is going to be as progressive as others; but it is our job to help everyone emerge out of ignorance and into enlightenment.

Okay aside from those things... today introduced a lot of injustices that are happening in today's society. I really enjoyed looking to today's issue so that we may get into a mindset that is geared toward changing today for the sake of tomorrow.

We also played a supah awesome game!! SHOUT OUT TO KATIE PICKEN!! Called CONTACT! That was fun!

I really have been changed by this trip and will never forget what I have learned!! I am so ready to continue the dream and the movement!!!

Freakin loved the trip.. cannot stress that enough and really feel everyone should go through this experience so that they may be aware of how far we have come in terms of diversity and how much further we need to go!!

Thanks Marianne and Amanda and all the group leaders.... ESPECIALLY BRANDI... for heading up this trip and doing a great job at facilitation!!

Peace out!!
Joe Guillory

Selma - Kelley's Group

Wednesday started out with us being able to experience yet another piece of history by visiting the Greyhound bus station that the freedom riders were attacked at once they reached Birmingham. Being able to stand in the exact same spot where such turmoil and oppression is a feeling that I dont think any of us will ever forget. The freedom riders and everyone else of the time period sacrificed a lot just to gain right that are supposed "natural" rights of human beings. It really kills me that a lot of people take everything that they have today for granted by not taking advantage of their right to vote or to go on to earn a higher education.
The trip to Selma was by far the most moving of the trip though. I will start with the end of the 3-part trip to the museum which consisted of a tour of the city of Selma. We were able to visit the Brown Chapel which played a pivotal role during the Civil Rights movement by being a central meeting place and just a safe haven. Its location made this possible due to the fact that it is right in the middle of housing projects where many African Americans lived not only back then, but today as well.
We also visited the Emdund Pettus Bridge, which leads from Selma to Montgomery and is the bridge that many blacks were beaten on Bloody Sunday when they attempted to cross the bridge, where they were doing a non-violent protest in the form of a march. Being able to cross the bridge and retrace their footsteps made everyone feel like a they were reliving a piece of history.
The emotional high point of the entire trip though was the simulation in which we participated in, in which we were placed in the same predicament as our ancestors. They took us away from our familiar surroundings, separated, and then forced to make decisions on whether someone else lives or dies. It was truly an unimaginable experience that will provide a lasting experience for anyone who goes through it. The end of the simulation consisted of an elderly woman looking for her long lost child, which was taken away from her at birth. The saddest part of this situation though is the fact that the mother and daughter probably wouldnt even recognize each other, simply because they never had any contact with each other outside of birth. This was the harsh reality for many slave mothers during the time period. These same women would also be forced to have babies fathered by their slave masters. This is something that no matter how powerful the simulation is, that you can just never truly understand due to the fact that in the back of your mind you always know that it is a simulation. But for the slaved and segregated this was there reality for hundreds of years. All this treatment, due simply to the color of their skin.

Drake Alford

Selma -- Syntyche's group -- kala

After a week of traveling from city to city and museum to museum, the mass amount of information began to blend and blur, and I seemed to be in a daze. Selma woke me up. The group visited the National Voting Rights Museum and Footprints to Freedom Tour. There, we learned about “Bloody Sunday” in depth and about the efforts and planning that went into the successful march led by Dr. King. I was inspired by the will power and spirit of those who had resolved to march to Selma despite the beating they had experienced only two weeks prior, on “Bloody Sunday.”
The second leg of the trip took us all back in time and space to the Africa, the middle passage, and slavery in the U.S. The Selma Slavery and Civil War Museum approached the topic differently from others because we were forced to simulate the experiences of our ancestors. Once off the bus we were made to line up against a wall and were “inspected” – immediately I realized what was going on – and while we were being humiliated outside the entrance, I couldn’t help but to think of how many captured individuals were humiliated, cursed, beaten, and suffering from utter confusion and sorrow on the coasts of Africa as they were dragged from the interior. After making it through the selection process, we were roughly told to enter into a holding room, which led to another room which served as the dungeon and final stop before we were to pass through the infamous door of no return . While in the dungeon, we were surrounded by screams and loud wailings, which frightened us all, and caused many of us girls to cling to one another. Again, I tried to imagine the harsh reality of what that dungeon may have been like – I failed. No, matter how hard I try, I may never be able to fathom the foul stench, terrified cries, and complete fear that my ancestors experienced in those dungeons. We were then forced to cram tightly onto a “ship.” Initially sitting, we were made to stand as more and more people boarded the tiny boat. Three of us in the back locked arms so as to comfort each other, and then we were all made to crawl through a hole (which I assumed to symbolize going up to the top deck) and then form a line from which about five were selected to choose ten to throw overboard so that the traders could make a deadline. It was then that I realized that my friend and I had been separated, and then I began to think about families divided and friendships torn apart, and how much more difficult the journey must have been alone – surrounded by many, yet all alone. The doors opened again, and we were put into a dark room, in which we witnessed a mother beg her master to let her keep her child, but to no avail; all sixteen of her children had been stripped from her, and she would never see any of them again. Then the lights came on,the simulation was over, and our integrated group had an opportunity to discuss the disconnect between our races for generations and how that was brought on by slavery.
In reflection, I thought that even though mistreated, I had never been hit or cursed at. I didn’t really see anyone die, and most importantly, I never believed at any one time that my life was ever in any real danger. Unfortunately, it was not the same for my ancestors. They did not participate in an hour long simulation and then return to their normal lives; they participated in history, real life unchanging events of the past, and they experienced the many things I merely glimpsed to a degree that I cannot fully imagine.
The museum definitely reopened wounds that had been passed down by generations of slave descendants, but hopefully now those wounds may be dressed and healed correctly, and although they may leave a scar so that I may always remember, they will no longer leave the hurt.

Day 7-Montgomery/Selma(William's Group)

Often it is easy to look at the past as just that: the past, a distant memory, a story passed down to generations who could care less. We, whether purposefully or subconsciously, block out any information that does not directly affect our environment, our reality. This is because history is not real to us as a generation, as humans. We browse through museums, looking at pictures, reading captions, old newspaper clippings, thinking to ourselves, "What a powerful story." A story. Can we really connect to a story? For us, blacks, whites, Native Americans, Asians, to really connect to our history, we must come to the realization that, at one point, this story was once someone's reality. Today, on the Footprints to Freedom Tour at the National Voting Rights Museum, I believe that we came closer to that realization. I am hesitant to say that we experienced life on a slave ship because frankly we did not. We caught a glimpse into a fraction of the suffering of those subject to the cruelties of the Middle Passage. We received a mild sampling of the verbal abuse that the slave drivers delivered to their bewildered captives. This was an experience not a display, one that could not merely be bypassed because we wanted to get to the gift shop. The wailing of a mother having her child torn from her arms echoed in the last room of our "voyage," moving many of us to tears. This was a staunch reminder that slavery was not just a crime against Africans committed by whites. It was a crime against humanity. This view was expressed in our discussion following our visit. We talked about how the experience impacted each of us and what we can do to forgive, but not forget. For if we forget, we are doomed to repeat our mistakes, doomed to classify another group of people as inferior to ourselves because of arbitrary, uncontrollable factors. To forgive, it is important to embrace history not as a story, but as the reality of those who truly experienced those trying times. They lived through slavery, through reconstruction, through the lynchings, the cross burnings, the Klan killings, the bus boycotts, the Civil Rights movement. And they can live today, so long as we do not forget.

Montgomery-Selma Civil Rights Tour 2010

Whoa! Today was an awesome and amazing day; just a roller coaster of emotions. The day started in Montgomery, Alabama where we visited the Greyhound Station where the Freedom Riders rode to, to show there strong stand against the racist time period they were in. When the riders arrived at the bus station they were met with strong opposition and were brutally beaten, one of the survivors of this attack was John Lewis. After we left there we headed to the home of Dr. King, while he was pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. There were some items in the house that were actually in the house when Dr. King was living there with his family. One specific and heart-touching moment to me was when our group stood in the kitchen of the King home and watched as our tour guide acted out the events of the famous night when Dr. King has his great "Epiphany". To me it really showed Dr. King at maybe his most vulnerable point. We don't like to see our leaders weak, it makes us give up hope sometimes if we see them so shaken up. But Dr. King never gave made it seem like he was giving up, to me it just seemed like a "regrouping" of his thoughts. After that night, Dr. King was fearless in the face of danger. After the house we were off to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where King preached from 1954-1960. The church was very large and the inside was beautiful. The pews in the church were the original pews from when Dr. King was there. Oh yea, probably one of the funniest things today was when I learned that Rev. Vernon Johns (the preacher at Dexter Avenue before King) was the man who gave the infamous funeral speech. He said, "He lived like a dog, he died like a dog. Undertaker take charge of the body"! Whoa imagine has stunned that audience was. After we left the church we were off the Selma! While in Selma we visited the National Voting Rights Museum and we saw the many images and heard the stories surrounding the Bloody Sunday incident that took place on March 7. The story that our tour guide told us was so heart-wrenching and it almost seems hard to believe that people were beaten that horribly. No one died on Bloody Sunday, but 16 were injured. One of the main motivators for this march was the shooting that lead to the death of Jimmie Jackson by a state trooper. The marchers on Bloody Sunday were planning to to peacefully march to Montgomery, but were met by a strong state trooper line on the other side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The marchers were sprayed with tear gas and beaten, some nearly to death. But what has to be my most favorite part of today and possibly this whole trip was the simulation that our group went through to help us better understand the struggles that the slaves endured as they were being transported to the New World. I can honestly say that, that experience opened my eyes to a totally different way of thinking and viewing Black History. The feeling I felt today was a feeling that you cannot get by reading a book or listening to a Black History tape. It was a scary, depressing, emotional, degrading, heart-pounding feeling all rolled up in one. I truly believe that everyone; people of all races, nationalities, and colores should go through this simulation at some point in their lives. That was the first time in my life I had every been called a n*****, and although that derogatory term had never been used to harm me, the pain still struck my heart. I felt helpless, insulted, and inferior. The idea that the slaves were packed so tightly in basements and on the cargo ships was just a horrible thought. I mean people were using the restroom beside each other and some people had to ride to the New World with dead friends, family members, or just a fellow African laying right beside them. Horrifying screams were heard all throughout the ship as women and some children were being raped or some people being thrown overboard. This event is one that I will never forget and that feeling will stay with me as a constant reminder of how difficult their struggle was, and I should never take advantage of the liberties and freedoms that I have today because of the many people that have been placed before me; from 1619 to the present.