Civil Rights Immersion 2016

On September 7, 1888, a mob of white men shot and killed seven unknown African Americans at their camp site meeting site near Screamer, Alabama. The lynching was reported as having begun over a white man’s drinking well. A group of African Americans were having camp meetings in the area, and they allegedly stopped at the well to drink some water. Newspaper reports stated that the white man who claimed ownership of the well approached, enraged. He ordered the African Americans not to drink from the well and even shot at one man as he was attempting to drink.

Later that night, the white man who claimed to own the well alleged that some of the African Americans had “threatened” him. A mob of white men formed, went to the African Americans’ camp and killed seven people. According to one news report, the mob “left seven bodies as a reminder to the other members of the camp meeting crowd.” (Equal Justice Initiative, In Remembrance: Lynching in Alabama, The Soil Collection Project)

Today, we packed into our cars and drove two hours down to Screamer, Alabama, a town so small and rural that it feels only like one abrupt, side-of-the-road stop off a long road through dense, sticky trees and hiccups of Baptist churches to the bottom right corner of Alabama.

We arrived at one such Baptist Church, parked, unloaded, put on our sunscreen, and split off– two us took one of seven ample, cool mason glass jar reading “Unknown #[1-7], Screamer, AL, September 7, 1888” and a brand new, bright red shovel. Emily and I took “Unknown #2” and made our way carefully through the thorny trees, initially unsure of which way to go; what was driving us? We paused and looked around. A few yards away, we spotted a small clearing, and then, a strong, cool tree. We squatted under the tree, and I felt nervous for as to what I should say. After a few quite moments, Emily finally spoke and said, “I’m sorry for what happened to you. I hope you find more peace in the afterlife than you had here.” We dug.

I’ve been bewildered by the level of responsibility and care the inspiring leaders here have entrusted to us here. This morning we visited Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery for the second time, and listened to Bryan Stevenson, the founder of EJI and author of the 2014 New York Times Bestseller, Just Mercy, (among other fabulous titles) speak. He talked to us about these mason jars he was entrusting us with to pack full of Alabama soil moist with the sweat from slavery, the blood from broken, black bodies, the tears from the agony of segregation, and the life of hopeful truth and reconciliation.

By collecting soil from the sites of the 363 known lynchings that took place in Alabama, the Equal Justice Initiative hopes to make tangible and visible the often abstract and invisible lives that were taken through these acts of racial terrorism, a term that is new to me, and gives me chills. Bryan talked to us about how our American narrative equally makes invisible what is shameful and uncomfortable. We’ve heard several times now that there are 59 markers for Confederacy in Montgomery while only 3 for slavery and 0, yet, for lynchings.

How do we purport to move out without moving through spaces seeping with the legacy of a heavy history, of shadows that follow us?

We confront, we dig. We remember.

I was talking about time. It’s so hard for me to believe in it. Some things go. Some thing just stay. I used to think it was my rememory. You know. Some things you forget. Others thing you never do. But it’s not. Places, places are still there. If a house burns down, it’s gone, but the place– the picture of it– stays, and not just in my rememory, but out there, in the world… Right in the place where it happened. (Toni Morrison, Beloved)

Ana

Hello everyone!

Day 4 has been another eventful day down south! By this point in the immersion, we have been bonding together as a group through various icebreakers (cue eye rolls from multiple group members) which end up being filled with laughter as we learn more about one other.

The day began with the Civil Rights Memorial Center in downtown Montgomery, which paid tribute to the men and women who gave their lives in the Civil Rights movement, as well as the men and women who have lost their lives due to racial injustice since the ending of the civil rights era. As we took time to circulate the memorial, where images of these individuals were hung around the room, there was silence as we thought of the courageousness of each individual and what this means for us as we take or education of southern culture that is influenced by a history charged with racial injustice, and inform others about the current issues that still plague this country. I think about these people who moved through their fears to do what they believed in the cores of themselves to be right, and remember that they were simply that: people like you and me. People who lived with intention and made conscious choices to change the circumstances they found themselves in, not only for themselves, but for the generations to come. I implore anyone reading this to pause and think about this thought: that all people have the ability to be courageous by living with this intention.

After the Civil Rights Memorial we took a block of time to explore the city center of Montgomery, which acted as a slave trade hub during the civil war era, before moving to the Equal Justice Initiative. We had three speakers who educated us about the death penalty, where the state of Alabama has the 4th largest death row in the country. We also discussed the issues of children being sentenced to life in prison without parole as young as 13 and 14 years old. These issues are revealed to be closely connected to the deeper rooted history of slavery, and the myths created about black people as being dangerous and violent in order to keep them in chains. These ideas, even if they are difficult to notice, survive still within American culture and contribute to the fact that American prisons are disproportionately made up of people of color. This legacy of racial injustice is manifested in the laws and legislation of this country, and in order to combat the effects of these myths and ideals, one must educate themselves and others about the history of America that most would rather forget.

Tomorrow we will participate in a project created by the Equal Justice Initiative, where soil will be collected from various lynching sites in the state and put into a lynching memorial site, bringing attention to the victims of this era who have been forgotten, so that we may move forward by becoming conscious of our history as a nation.

More to come from the Civil Rights Immersion!

Ta ta for now! Hannah Schoen

 

Hello everyone! Melissa here to share a bit about our third day of adventures in downtown Montgomery.

Today was yet another great and powerfully moving experience. We started the day by going to the first, and the only church, that Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor of: Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church (referred to as Dexter Avenue Church throughout rest of post). The church has a beautiful mural in the basement depicting the Civil Rights Movement timeline. Images of Rosa Parks, The Black Panthers, the Selma Bridge, and children marching for justice filled the wall, signifying the multi-faceted approaches to the same goal of the Civil Rights Movement–unity in finding justice for all. The mural also depicted Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. ascending into heaven, as those who created the mural and attend the church believe that Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a saint living among us.

From Dexter Avenue Church, we traveled a few short blocks to the Dexter Parsonage Museum where we had the opportunity to walk through the home that housed the pastors of Dexter Avenue Church, including Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr (here we are walking into the Parsonage). Many of the items within the home are from the time that the King family resided there and this is also the residence where an individual bombed the home during Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s involvement with the Civil Rights Movement. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. is credited with stopping a violent riot from occurring the night of the bombing by telling the angry group of people who had gathered that his family was not hurt, to go silently, and to go home. We learned that in the kitchen of this home Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. once contemplated the decision to end his involvement with being a part of the movement because of the threats on himself and his family. However, as we are all well aware, he made the choice that he wanted to continue in his calling towards righteousness, justice, and freedom for all people.

The King-Johns Garden for Reflection, located behind the Parsonage Museum and home, offers a space for peaceful contemplation and recognizes two great leaders and ministers of Dexter Avenue Church–Vernon Johns and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Both of these men believed in direct action that would result in freedom through six common themes–equality, forgiveness, hope, peace, understanding, and unity.

Lastly, we journeyed back towards downtown Montgomery to see the state capitol and the confederate white house. We all reflected later on how it is difficult to process and appreciate the American history that occurred in these two places after visiting the places that Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. lived and preached in. We found it challenging to appreciate and understand what had occurred in these two locations, while simultaneously not agreeing with certain beliefs or point of views that were presented to us. Hiding the confederate history of our country would be denying the truths of the American history. And as we learned last night over dinner, telling truths is an important part in building an honest approach to understanding the background of events that occur within our past history.

As Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “I have decided to stick to love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

Hello everyone! Chelsea here to tell you all about Day 2 of the Civil Rights Immersion.

Yesterday started early after a long day of travel. We woke up congregated in the hotel lobby and had what you would call a typical continental breakfast. We planned our exciting and delicious meals for the week, and are super stoked about the aspect of cooking and proving for ourself as we take on the weeks ahead.

Two of our first stops for the day were a quick drive to downtown Birmingham.

Our first stop for the day was the Civil Rights museum, a beautiful museum that truly brought us into the proper mindset for the next few weeks. We started with a short video on the history of slavery, and moved on to the well crafted, articulate, and thought provoking exhibits. We were able to see that stark reality of what segregated classrooms and downtown cafes were like. We encountered an exhibit that was very simple in presentation, but powerful in the words spoken. One that made us all wonder what words we would have whispered behind our closed walls. Numerous exhibits brought us to the reality of the time period, as well as allowed us to fill in gaps that most of us have already encountered during this trip. After going through this institution, we were all in awe of the lack of education our schooling has given us on these topics.

Following the institute, we walked right across the street to the 16th street Baptist Church. For those of you that are unaware of this location and the effects of this location and the Civil Rights Movement, here is a little bit of background. Basically  this was the pivotal turning point of the movement, this place turned the movement form a thought process to an action plan. The 16th Street Baptist church was bombed, taking out a large part of the church, and killing 4 young innocent girls. The young girls are often referred to as the Angels of the Cause. Monuments, statues, and entire areas of Birmingham are dedicated to these young girls because of their lasting effect on the Civil Rights movement, causing the climax of the situation and allowing people to finally channel their anger to a progressive and inspiring movement, in memory of those lost including the young girls.

We were about to walk through the Birmingham park just across the street form both of these locations, and view statutes, momorials, and various sculptures that helped depict the movement. We drove past the Birmingham Jail where Martin Luther King was held in solitary confinement.

From Birmingham we took a “short” (short relative to our future drives) 2 hour drive to Montgomery Alabama. We are currently staying at Resurrection Catholic Church where we are spending about a week.

We had what I would call the most amazing and awe inspiring dinner with numerous Civil Rights Activists from the time, many of which were active in the Birmingham Bus Boycott (which they ask us to not call a boycott, but rather a movement). All members of the dinner got up and spoke about their time in the movement, the effects that came about, and the situation of the time.

I was fortunate to sit with Professor Charlie Hardy, a business teacher at Alabama State University. He is truly a man of charisma and wisdom, just as the various other speakers were. We were all able to set as a small group with various speakers, leaders of the movement, and men and women that were there for it all and thrilled to share their individual stories. Its safe to say that we all were more than stoked to have this experience and love where we were at got us in the right mindset not only as individuals, but as a group as well. Memories were made that night that will last a true lifetime. As well as I believe bonds and friendships with these activist that I hope will continue on past this trip.

In the words spoken by our amazing 16th Street tour guide I send with this; “Do not forget, what men do for evil, God does for good.”

And with that I say; Goodbye until tomorrow.

Yesterday at 3:30am, myself and 15 other University of Portland students and staff hauled their back packs and bags into vans and made their way to the airport for a three week trip to the south. With little experience beyond our homes and university, we boarded the plane with limited expectations, but with excitement and curiosity.

Welcome to our story.

Throughout this trip, we will be actively blogging and posting pictures so those at home are able to follow us on our trip through the south and hopefully experience and learn through our own eyes and ears.

Day one of our trip included three major ordeals – flying, eating, and shopping.

We flew out of Portland at 6:00am, and after 4 hours, landed in Houston, Texas for a brief layover (to which we all decided counted as long enough for us to say we’ve “been to Texas”). Then, after a quick flight on a plane that was the width of exactly my wingspan, we survived, and landed in Birmingham, Alabama. Throughout this journey, many of us were really getting to know one another for the first time – between the hours of 3:30am and 6:00am made this especially challenging, however we managed to make the most of it.

Our next order of business upon getting settled into our hotel for the evening was having dinner at Niki’s West – a cafeteria-styled family owned restaurant serving only the best Alabama has to offer. Catfish, roasted chicken, yams, and the infamous sweet tea welcomed our stomachs into an entirely new culture of food, with no complaints or apprehension had by us. The southern hospitality and full stomachs had us feeling right at home on the very first night.

Finally, a small number of us were able to go shopping at the local Piggly Wiggly’s grocery store after dinner in order to prepare for the following day’s meals. We bolted from aisle to aisle in excitement, taking in all of the new candies, sodas, and foods. We compared these things to what we saw in our stores on the west coast or our home towns, and talked about how crazy it was that simply being in another state could change so much about the lives people live. Between grocery shopping and Niki’s West, it was quickly concluded that food was an important aspect of southern culture.

As I write this now, we are about to embark on day 2 of our trip. With coffee and luggage in hand, we are relocating to Resurrection Perish in Montgomery, where we will be staying for the following week. Keep an eye out for more posts and picture to come!

 

Hey all,

It has been a long day!  We started our journey together by initiating a phone tree at 3:00am, meeting on campus at 3:30am, all in the name of catching our flight out of Portland by 6:00am.  We’re here in Birmingham, AL with a space for all of us to comfortably lay our heads, food in our bellies, and with many hopes for the coming weeks.  We’ll fill in the details a bit more tomorrow, but for now we are all headed towards horizontal, and hopefully a deeply restful sleep.

Until soon,

Lindie