For her birthday, she asked the kids for one thing: no complaining or whining. Not once.
For her birthday, she asked me for one thing: to leave on time without having to harry people or get frantic about getting out the door.
The kids and I, we rose to the challenge!
First we headed down to Selma. On our way, we saw a giant peach. We thought of James. We took a picture. Naturally.
We're guessing this is a replica of the one in Gaffney, South Carolina. Maybe?
Visiting Selma was a profound experience. And super stinky. I don't know why, but the town had a strong smell was genuinely terrible! The first stop was over the bridge to a memorial park.
The Alabama river, under the bridge.
I've always liked this verse. I believe it important that we remember God, that we remember the lessons of the past, and that we help generations to remember it.
So here's the basic story, glossing over many interesting parts, that gave Selma a strong role in the civil rights movement.
Martin Luther King Jr along with the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) promoted nonviolent efforts to get black voters registered. They were supposed to be allowed, but whites often put many roadblocks in their way or would flat out reject their registration efforts. After many arrests of demonstrating blacks, a young black man Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot dead as he tried to protect his mother from being hit by a policeman's rod.
At this, the SCLC rallied the black community and determined to carry Jackson's coffin all the way to Montgomery and lay it on the capital steps, a journey of some 50+ miles. Their demands were about obtaining unobstructed voting rights. I don't know if they decided to carry the coffin or not, that wasn't clear to me, but they began their march on Sunday, March 7th, 1965.
They left Brown Chapel Church, crossed the Edmund Pettis bridge in Selma and, within a block of being on the other side, they were confronted by a line of police troopers in protective gear and gas masks.
Brown Chapel Church
The Edmund Pettis Bridge from the Selma side
A museum display of people crossing the bridge, facing the police
The police gave them an ultimatum that they had two minutes to disperse. They stopped, but it was clear that they would not disperse, and a minute later, the police advanced. Reporters were all around to cover the march and footage was shown throughout the country. The police dispersed them by pushing straight through them and with tear gas. Some reports say that the beatings and bullying went all the way back to the Brown Chapel Church where the march began on the other side of the bridge.
Here's some of the footage from that day
There was little if any retaliation from the marchers. Martin Luther King loved the work of Ghandi and had previously traveled to India to learn from him. King brought a deeper understanding of the philosophy of nonviolent civil disobedience back with him and he spread it.
Martin Luther King was not present at this march, but quickly went to Selma, and organized another march for two days later. Many pressures, including from President Lyndon B Johnson, a restraining order to prevent the march until at least March 11th, and a desire to not see more violence done without purpose, MLK led the march to the bridge, had everyone kneel and pray, and then disperse. Some of the movement criticized him for this, but it won him favors with President Johnson who soon federalized the Alabama national guard and submitted voting rights legislation in the following week.
On March 21st, the march left Selma protected by the Alabama National Guard and FBI agents. There were also many people from across the nation, white and black, who came out in support. It took four days to make it to Montgomery and marked a successful campaign to gain uninhibited voting rights for all Americans regardless of race.
Alabama State Capital Building in Montgomery
Martin Luther King's home not far from the Capital Building in Montgomery
There are other stories of interest surrounding these events and it's an inspiring study! The courage, the purpose, and the commitment shown here are moving. It's one thing to say "yeah, I'd stand up for what I believe in." It's another to be beaten, bloodied, and jailed for an effort you believe in, but that has no guarantee of obtaining its desired ends.
While this event is what makes Selma an important stop on the map, it's not all there is to the city. We made a couple other stops as well.
There's an antebellum home there called the Sturdivant Hall. It's a lovely place and the tour was unique. It was the least "no-touchy" antique tour ever! They were very laid back about touching stuff! And... it wasn't that interesting. They told us little about the house and the people there. Some, but little. Mostly they had filled it with various old paintings and furniture and told us where all that stuff came from, but without much context or reason we should care. Made it a bit boring, unfortunately. But we got a few interesting tidbits and mostly some cool pictures out of it!
Benjo and his poses! Cracks me up!
Balcony view
View of the Balcony
Up in the crows nest
And the cool spiral staircase to get there
A beautiful home, it was last sold for $24k in the 1940s. Not a bad deal!
And our other stop in Selma? The Library! We're suckers for libraries and Selma has quite a nice one! A large collection that very much impressed me.
Loved this quote in the Library. "Where the child finds enjoyment is where the child finds wisdom." That's worth pondering. It goes along with this question: what is the #purposeofeducation?
I like that quote from the Library.
ReplyDelete