The Energy of Place

At the moment I’m grateful for the secure travels we-students, chaperones, and bus driver-had on our latest Civil Rights Journey. I recognize all who helped information us on our varied excursions, sharing their ardour and their tales. 

The historical past of the Civil Rights Motion is heavy with battle, setbacks, hatred, and tragedies. It is usually uplifted by the superb braveness, religion, and perseverance of those that saved risking their lives for what issues most. 

We noticed historic locations. Stood on sacred floor. We learn, listened, considered many displays, movies, and photographs that inform a narrative in intricate element. These particulars had been generally stuffed with heartbreaking inhumanity and generally imbued with a stage of humanity that may assist heal those self same damaged hearts.

I knew a number of the story of the Civil Rights Motion. I realized, and felt, a lot extra of it on this journey. It’s a story that begins with the kidnapping and enslavement of Africans centuries in the past. It’s a story most profoundly captured on the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. “From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration” is the theme of this museum. The reality is difficult. And vital.

We had been in church buildings, bus stations, museums. We walked alongside streets and thru areas the place tales had been palpable. We felt the ability of place. Our tour ended with a cease on the Nationwide Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. It’s constructed on the Lorraine Motel the place Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. 

I’ve many footage on my digital camera roll. The 2 I’m selecting to share at present symbolize the ability of place:

The primary photograph is from our lodge in Montgomery. I believed to myself as I regarded out: “X marks the spot of a lot historical past over this metropolis.” 

The second is outdoors the Nationwide Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.