Stepping away from the lunch counter, my fingers had been shaking and tears had been welling up in my eyes. I glanced over at Hannah, who at 13 was simply sufficiently old to take part on this interactive exhibit on the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. As our eyes met I knew that the expertise was simply as highly effective for her because it was for me.
You would assume that after ten days on a Civil Rights street journey studying in regards to the Civil Rights Movement, we’d have turn out to be desensitized. But as you sit down, clamp the headphones over your ears, put your palms flat on the countertop, shut your eyes and take heed to the voices shouting in your ears you’ll be able to virtually really feel the offended mob respiratory down your again.
As the countertop shakes, you flinch, ready for the blow to return for you. It solely takes a minute and a half of moving into the sneakers of a lunch counter sit-in protester to verify your privilege and get a glimmer of understanding for the bravery it took to face your floor within the face of violence and the specter of demise.
It isn’t straightforward. It will not be what you consider as a “fun” household trip. But I can’t consider a greater time to show our children about bigotry, discrimination, the legacy of slavery and the continued wrestle for human and civil rights each within the United States and world wide.
As we left for our journey, the NAACP had issued a journey warning to advise individuals of shade that their civil rights could also be violated in the event that they go to Missouri. We flew dwelling to the appalling information of white supremacists taking to the streets of Charlottesville, a city we beloved visiting, spreading their vile illness of hate. We had been heartbroken by the tragic lack of life and violence by the hands of a homegrown racist terrorist.
You can’t ignore the truth that the wrestle for the phrases of the Constitution to actually apply to everybody equally is ongoing. Over 50 years have passed by because the passage of the Civil Rights Act and we’re nonetheless coping with gerrymandering, profiling, and people whose hatred stems from a deep-rooted perception that one race is superior to a different.
This is a subject that touches my coronary heart, nevertheless it was really Hannah who picked to do a Civil Rights street journey for our annual mother-daughter journey. After finding out Civil Rights in class, studying books like The Watsons go to Birmingham, and watching motion pictures like Selma, she wished to grasp extra.
I consider strongly that it’s incumbent on us as dad and mom to verify our children perceive the place racism comes from, why it’s rooted so deeply into our society, the wrestle and bravado it takes to battle for equal civil rights and tips on how to be an efficient ally.
You can get a way for this by studying books, watching motion pictures, and finding out it in class. But it doesn’t sink all the way in which in till you stroll within the footsteps of Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis, Rosa Parks, Diane Nash, Fred Shuttlesworth, Ralph Abernathy, Hosea Williams, and different leaders of the U.S. Civil Rights motion.
Hopefully you’ll be able to a minimum of go to one of many many museums and facilities devoted to the motion on a civil rights tour. But in the event you actually need the message to hit dwelling, then I might encourage you to plan a civil rights street journey.
Planning a Civil Rights Road Trip
Note: this put up is written in partnership with Moon Travel Guides. All opinions are my very own.
The official U.S. Civil Rights Trail covers 15 states and the District of Columbia. The itinerary that we adopted on our street journey coated simply a part of the Civil Rights Trail. When planning your personal journey, I might additionally extremely suggest investing in a replica of U.S. Civil Rights Trail: A Traveler’s Guide to the People, Places, and Events that Made the Movement, revealed by Moon Travel Guides.
You will want every week to 10 days to do a civil rights street journey proper. There are so many websites to go to, however I might suggest together with stops in a minimum of Atlanta, Montgomery, Birmingham, and Memphis. It is smart to start out in Atlanta, the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr., and finish in Memphis on the Lorraine Motel the place he was assassinated.
However, there actually isn’t any proper or improper solution to go. We really began in Nashville, as a result of Southwest had a fare sale there and I’ve been eager to see the Music City anyway. So our street journey went like this: 3 nights in Nashville-3 nights in Memphis-1 evening in Birmingham-a cease in Selma-1 evening in Montgomery-3 nights in Atlanta.
If you wish to do one thing comparable, right here is your information. If you wish to additionally see extra websites, make sure that to take a look at the Alabama Civil Rights Trail for concepts just like the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.
Civil Rights Sites in Nashville
Note: We obtained media charges or reductions for a few of our resort stays and excursions, all opinions are my very own. This put up comprises affiliate hyperlinks. If you click on a hyperlink and make a purchase order, I could obtain a small fee.
Nashville might sound like a stunning alternative for a civil rights street journey, however most of the lunch counter protestors had been educated in Nashville. Even extra Nashville college students participated within the Freedom Rides. Of course, a cease in Nashville is all the time a pleasant approach so as to add some enjoyable to the journey.
This rising metropolis is hopping with vitality, nation music, and superb meals. Walk the streets of downtown to see the markers commemorating the lunch counter sit ins. Stay on the historic Union Station Hotel for straightforward strolling entry to each the downtown honky tonks, Country Music Hall of Fame, and the favored Gulch district.
Civil Rights Sites in Memphis
Just three and a half hours southwest of Nashville, Memphis was the following cease on our civil rights street journey. While many individuals come to Memphis to see Graceland or perhaps take heed to some blues, the not-to-be-missed web site in Memphis is the National Civil Rights Museum on the Lorraine Motel, which is the place the place Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
The reveals begin very appropriately with a glance again at slavery. As you consider the 250 years that slavery existed in our nation, it’s simpler to grasp how racial prejudices have taken such deep root. When one race dares to carry one other as “property,” the ethical justification is that the “subservient” race is in some way lower than the race claimed to be superior. Those attitudes run deep within the tradition and are clearly taking a very long time to vary utterly.
Visitors then enter right into a theater for a have a look at segregation up by way of the Jim Crow period. From there, a collection of exhibitions stroll you thru the principle moments of the Civil Rights motion together with: college desegregation, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Freedom Rides, pupil sit ins, the March on Washington, the Selma marches, the rise of the Black Power motion, and a lot extra.
The reveals embrace video (corresponding to MLK Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech,) and replicas of the bombed Freedom Rides bus and a Montgomery metropolis bus. Stepping onto the bus and having the bus driver recording admonish you to go to the again of the bus offers you a small style of what it was wish to be black within the segregated south. Nothing as highly effective of the lunch counter exhibit in Atlanta, however I can’t watch a video of MLK Jr.’s speeches with out being moved by tears.
The last cease within the museum overlooks the rooms within the Lorraine Motel the place Dr. King and his workforce spent his final hours. As you solemnly gaze out on the balcony the place he was killed, you’ll be able to’t assist however be full of emotion in such a tragic spot. Across the road, you may as well go to the Legacy constructing, the place the gun that killed Dr. King was shot. The reveals right here discuss potential alternate theories into who killed MLK, or a minimum of, who else was concerned.
Your foray into historical past in Memphis shouldn’t cease on the Lorraine Motel. There is a lot African-American History to discover in Memphis. The greatest intro could be to take the “Tour of Possibilities” with Queen. She will drive you round and inform you all in regards to the space’s historical past, communities, and leaders (plus level out some superb locations to eat.) Even although Queen is a New York-native, she could be very effectively linked in the neighborhood (as you’ll be able to inform by everybody waving as her van drives by), and retains the tour very entertaining.
Another must-do web site is Slave Haven, an antebellum dwelling that was as soon as a cease on the Underground Railroad for escaped enslaved individuals in search of freedom within the north. A fast have a look at this dwelling would possibly make you assume it’s one thing you’ll be able to both skip or solely spend a couple of minutes trying round and poking your head into the basement the place enslaved individuals waited till it was secure to proceed on their journey. Not so.
If you’re taking a tour, the caretakers will stroll you thru the Middle Passage into slavery, discuss to you about how the hymns and quilts handed the message of the path to freedom, educate you on how stereotypes in promoting had been used to maintain individuals of shade down, and offer you a glimpse on the bravery and ingenuity it took for the escapees and people who helped them. Plan on spending a minimum of an hour and be ready to open your self as much as a robust expertise.
If you go to Memphis, you’ll want to depart time for one thing somewhat extra lighthearted, just like the Duck Ceremony on the Peabody Memphis! We loved our keep at this grand dame of motels, conveniently situated to all of the downtown sights. Don’t miss some scrumptious soul meals at Alcenia’s throughout your keep (see my different suggestions on the place to eat in Memphis.)
Civil Rights Sites in Birmingham
From Memphis, it’s a couple of three-and-a-half drive right down to Birmingham. If you might be in search of a superb cease alongside the way in which, take a detour to the school city of Oxford, Mississippi. Pop into Square Books for some studying materials and have lunch on the Ajax Diner (however be warned that the parts are large so you’ll want to share!)
Birmingham is a essential cease on a civil rights street journey. While town going by way of a revitalization in spots, Birmingham was really fashioned post-Civil War. Its total historical past is rooted in segregation because it was being constructed. This can be why you noticed such resistance to vary and desegregation in Birmingham.
It was completely chilling to take heed to civic leaders in Birmingham espouse their views about how the “negroes were better off under the white man.” It additionally resonated to see how onerous the white supremacists fought towards change that they felt was being pressured on them by the liberal Yankees stirring up hassle – that rhetoric sounds so acquainted to what we’re listening to in the present day.
What was totally different in regards to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in comparison with different civil rights museums is that it’s centered largely on the civil rights points and motion in Birmingham and Alabama. The reveals begin off with a brief movie that explains how Birmingham was created and the rise of Jim Crow and segregation.
The reveals then attempt to create an understanding of the consequences of segregation by exhibiting the variations in schooling, employment alternatives, and entry to medical care.
While the reveals aren’t as excessive tech as what one can find in Atlanta or Memphis, the deal with Alabama gave it a unique perspective, went deeper into some occasions and points, and strengthened what we had realized in Memphis. There are additionally some superb reveals that target worldwide human rights and the continued battle for civil rights globally.
After visiting the Civil Rights Institute, you’ll be able to stroll throughout the road and go to the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, the place the horrific bombing in 1963 took the lives of 4 younger women attending Sunday college.
You also needs to take a stroll by way of Kelly Ingram Park, which is throughout the road from the Center and Church. The sculptures across the Freedom Walk by way of the park are highly effective monuments to the heroes and reminders of the challenges of the battle for equality and civil rights.
While the realm across the Civil Rights Institute is fairly quiet, Birmingham has many revitalized neighborhoods so there isn’t a scarcity of cute, enjoyable locations to eat throughout your go to. We stayed on the Westin Birmingham, which is a part of the Uptown eating and leisure district.
While you might wish to drive if you’re going out of this space, we had a wonderful dinner of tapas at Ovenbird, lastly tried Nashville’s sizzling rooster at Hattie B’s, and located a cute espresso store and breakfast spot at Feast & Forest.
Civil Rights Sites in Selma
I had been warned that the city of Selma is struggling and is pretty depressed so there isn’t loads to see, however I nonetheless wished to see the Edmund Pettus Bridge in individual. Hannah and I watched the film Selma earlier than we began our journey and it appeared essential to stroll throughout the bridge ourselves.
It isn’t too far of a detour to cease in Selma in your approach from Birmingham to Montgomery. Unfortunately, we arrived in a torrential rain storm and we had been soaked to our pores and skin simply strolling as much as the bridge and over to the small National Park interpretive heart on the foot of the bridge.
So we didn’t fulfill our hope of strolling the span of the bridge. The interpretive heart is small and in case you have already realized in regards to the Selma marches for voting rights in Memphis or Birmingham, then you might not discover something new, nevertheless it did reinforce our earlier museum visits.
Civil Rights Sites in Montgomery
Montgomery is about an hour from Selma, or an hour and a half from Birmingham if you’re going direct. While it’s the state capital, town itself additionally feels pretty quiet. There are a number of civil rights-related locations to go to, however on our one-day go to we centered on the Rosa Parks Museum and the Freedom Rides Museum.
The Rosa Parks Museum is extraordinarily effectively completed. You might have to attend on your subsequent “tour” to start out, however it’s a self-guided museum. They simply begin teams within the expertise on the similar time and after the preliminary video experiences, you might be free to discover by yourself.
The Rosa Parks Museum begins by bringing you again to the occasions of December 1, 1955, when a drained Rosa Parks, who was sitting within the space permitted for African Americans, refused to surrender her seat for a white individual as soon as the bus was full. For years, I used to be below the misunderstanding that she was sitting within the entrance of the bus the place she wasn’t allowed. Not true.
I additionally didn’t notice that federally, any such segregation wasn’t allowed however Montgomery was following state legal guidelines. It was not simply eye-opening, the exhibit actually places you within the second when Rosa Parks needed to make this life-changing determination that earned her the title of the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.”
From there, the museum follows the timeline of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and all of the challenges concerned. Again, I didn’t notice that this boycott, which was universally adopted by all African Americans and plenty of whites within the metropolis, went on for 13 months! Imagine the dedication! Since metropolis residents had been so depending on the bus system to get to work, particularly for ladies, a boycott of that size was difficult.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was very concerned in organizing carpools to assist these ladies get to work. Of course, in an effort to derail the boycott, the police harassed these taking carpools, limiting how many individuals might be in a automobile and making it unlawful to pay as if it was a taxi service.
Protestors had been additionally not allowed to fulfill in teams and the bus firm tried to sue towards the boycott, as a result of it had such a fiscal impression on their enterprise. Hannah and I each actually loved this museum and it was a visit spotlight.
Next door on the Rosa Park Children’s Library, you may as well board a “time machine” that walks you thru the event of Jim Crow legal guidelines and the historical past of segregation. You will step onto a bus, which rocks and shakes as you leap by way of time, so it’s entertaining for younger children however perhaps not people who get scared too simply.
After the Rosa Parks Museum, we additionally walked over to the Freedom Rides museum, which is only a small museum, situated in a part of the unique Greyhound bus station the place the Freedom Riders arrived. The museum is small with just some reveals nevertheless it offers a deep dive into the Freedom Rides and allows you to study extra in regards to the courageous people that took half in these rides.
We stayed at a Fairfield Inn exterior of Montgomery as a result of we wanted to do some laundry (plus love the free breakfast and night receptions), however in the event you want recommendations on the place to remain and the place to eat in Montgomery, take a look at recommendations from VacationMaybe.
Civil Rights Sites in Atlanta
The last cease on our civil rights tour was Atlanta, only a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Montgomery (not together with the time change from Central to Eastern.) As the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the assembly place of many civil rights leaders, Atlanta must be part of any civil rights journey.
There are two predominant websites to go to. The first is the Center for Civil and Human Rights. Located in the identical space because the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola, it’s essential dedicate half a day to go to the Center for Civil and Human Rights (simply word that they’re closed on Mondays.) This museum is trendy and all of the reveals make highly effective use of know-how to teach and evoke an emotional response, particularly the lunch counter exhibit that I referenced above.
The museum is so effectively completed nevertheless it doesn’t substitute what we had already seen or realized in Memphis, Birmingham and Montgomery. If you’ll be able to solely go to Atlanta, then sure, it offers an excellent overview of most of the predominant moments of the motion. However, I really feel that simply because you’ve been to the Center in Atlanta, doesn’t imply you shouldn’t go to different civil rights sights.
We each beloved that it additionally contains reveals on worldwide human rights. It highlights the defenders of human rights, and showcase the world’s worst human rights offenders. The reveals additionally offer you meals for thought by speaking in regards to the human rights impacts of our client selections round items like soccer balls, chocolate, and occasional.
The different must-visit spot in Atlanta is the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. In addition to a customer heart, you may as well go to the Dexter Street Baptist Church, the place MLK, and his father earlier than him, was a minister. There can be the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, the place you each Martin and Coretta Scott King are each entombed, and an everlasting flame continues to burn. Playing within the background is the audio of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech, offering a shifting house to pay your respects. Down the street, you’ll be able to even go to MLK Jr.’s delivery dwelling.
I’ll throw in yet another factor to do in Atlanta that has to do with the civil rights motion, and that’s the Martin Luther King Jr. Food Tour with Unexpected Atlanta. Sound stunning? We love exploring cities by way of meals excursions however this one combines historical past and superb southern meals.
The tour kicked off at Paschal’s, which nonetheless makes use of the identical fried rooster recipe as when Martin Luther King, Jr. and his colleagues would meet at Paschal’s to plan protests and even the march on Washington. The tour finishes only a 10-minute stroll to the MLK National Historic web site, rounding out a day of studying and consuming.
We spent three nights on the Loews Atlanta in Midtown, giving us loads of time to discover the civil rights websites of Atlanta.
I do know {that a} civil rights street journey will not be on the prime of your bucket record. Your children (or admit it, even you) might groan when they consider a trip full of museums and historic sights. But take into consideration what is going on in our nation in the present day. Look on the rise of white supremacists and the nationwide consideration these alt-right teams are getting.
We have to take our children to go to these websites. We want to speak to our children about these points. It is barely by addressing these points head on that we are able to educate our children the values that we wish to instill and present them why silence and ignorance usually are not choices.
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