3rd Leg: Selma, Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama
At the end of the Destin beach week, Seth and I parted ways with dad, Jeralyn, Mitch and Florida, and headed up to Alabama. As a note on the title of this particular blog post.; "Alabama's gotten me so upset"...this is a line from Nina Simone's excellent civil rights anthem, "Mississippi Goddam". I know the ole "Sweet Home Alabama" is a typical moniker for all things Alabama...but you know, in light of the "is that a racist song or not?" debate..there are better songs reminding us of what happened in Alabama. So let's go with Miss Simone, eh? As a United States history teacher, one of my favorite eras is the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 60's and of course, so many of the major milestones of this era occurred in Alabama. Combine the history with the recent opening of the Equal Justice Initiative's Legacy Museum and "lynching memorial" in 2018 in Montgomery...I had to revisit this state to take it all in, spending more time than my one day a couple years ago. I was so happy Seth was able to join me here as well for these 3 city visit. My photo sets will visually say it all, and I could go on and on about the museums, the Selma bridge (which even John Lewis did not want renamed), Kelly Ingram Park where Bull Connor showed the world what white supremacy and arrogant audacity really looked like...but I think the images in my albums tell the story better. So just a few words on the most impactful moments of what we saw. Lowndes County: We began driving through Andalusia and Lowndes County. Hank Williams got married in Andalusia and the world domino championships are there! Wheee! But Lowndes County holds the shameful honor of many things. The 1875 Constitution disenfranchising more blacks and poor whites than almost anywhere in the country, the highest rates of per capita lynchings in the country and by 1965, the least amount of black voters than anywhere in the country. Seeing the gorgeous courthouse as we drove through doesn't give one any indication of this awful legacy of this county. For more on this history, read here. Selma: Seth and I stopped here to walk the Edmund Pettus bridge, the site of the planned march from Selma to the capitol of Montgomery by civil rights activists in 1965. It is iconic. If you aren't familiar with the 3 marches, including the awful events of "Bloody Sunday", you need to watch the movie, "Selma" or pick up a book on this long hard fight! The Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed after this awareness raising event is one of the most important milestones in all Civil Rights history....leading to an important "preclearance' requirement in the South for all voting laws. Sadly, this milestone legislation has since been chipped away, with the 2012 Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County v. Holder repealing the section of that law requiring preclearance and southern states once again suppressing voting rights. Despite its tourist draw, Selma, once thriving waterfront town, is now mostly barren and economically destitute. "What once was" is painfully obvious as you walk the historic downtown by the bridge. We did eat at a most amazing (and remote) BBQ joint that's been around since forever. Like everything we stopped at, there's a deep history even in the food joints. Read more here about Larnie's. Hope there's a "swamp burger" (2 burger patties, 1 fried bologna, and shredded pork BBQ) in your future and hope you get to meet "grandmomma" who lives across the street in a most amazing home! Just know when you roll up to Larnie's you will likely be spotted as we were..."first time here, right?" | Montgomery: On to Montgomery, with one overnight in an airbnb located in a gentrified, and very "woke" neighborhood, which allowed us to spend about 24 hours in this town steeped in civil rights history. Montgomery IS Civil Rights Movement and the awfulness that preceded it. One shocking fact, the entire Parks and Recreation Department literally shut down from 1959-1969 rather than integrate pools, parks, etc. This type of "drained pool politics", where all groups suffer because of the racist policies of white supremacy has left an economic legacy on so many parts of this state. Visits in Montgomery included The Rosa Parks Museum, the Kress building with progressive art and an excavated "white/colored" marble discrimination signs reminding us of the Jim Crow mentality and The Freedom Riders Museum, which was small, but fascinating. This later led to a discussion with Seth's dad that his dad's aunt was a freedom rider!! Also, we were there on Juneteenth, now a federal holiday as of this year! Activists have fought for decades to recognize this this special day. Favorite T-shirt spotted on a local "Free-ish since 1865" The true highlight of Montgomery were hours we spent at the Legacy Museum and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice (sometimes referred to as the lynching memorial). Again, my photo album can't begin to do this multi-site museum justice...and the interior of the Legacy Museum doesn't allow photos, but everyone MUST "bucket list" these two memorials to injustice. I could go on and on, but this article in the New York Times really says it all "the country has never seen anything like it." As a teacher that typically has seen/read about half of the primary source or tidbits in most museums, this one blew me away...things I never even touched on, knew about, thought of. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience I hope all of you get to experience as well. Below: The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, the highlight of my trip and a museum everyone must find a way to get to! Birmingham: Finally, we spent two days in the progressive city in the South of Birmingham. Fitting, we had a great loft by one of the 70 something train tracks that run through the city. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute was a "miss"...the second time I've been here and arrived on days it was closed. But no matter, Kelly Ingram Park has some of the best visual memorials to the 1963 Children's March, marking the terror of Bull Connor's dogs and fire hoses on peaceful protestors that sent nearly 1000 protestors to jail a day. The visual imagery broadcast to Americans of this white supremacist police commissioner was one of the main catalyst for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that desegregated all public facilities. More on this here if you are interested. As a history teacher, this is one of my favorite history points...how non violent tactics showed the world how violent white American privilege could be. Also, in this part of town is the First Baptist Church where four African American girls and 20 parishioners were injured. A marker near the church tells this story. Birmingham wasn't all memories of injustice and America at its worst, Seth and I scootered around, ate at some amazing restaurants, visited a wine bar he'd heard great things about...and in general enjoyed our time exploring the town. We have some really amazing memories here to be sure. |
To see our photos from Andalusia, Lowndes County, Selma, visit my photo album here.
To see our photos from Montgomery and the Legacy Museums visit my photo album here.
To see our photos from Birmingham, click here for the album.
To see our photos from Montgomery and the Legacy Museums visit my photo album here.
To see our photos from Birmingham, click here for the album.