MLK Research Study Tour Blog

"Definitely Not Everything- But Some Reflections on the MLK Jr. (Spring Break) Tour"

Mon, 04 May 2009 11:13:00 EST

Seeing both of Dr. King`s houses in Atlanta, GA and Montgomery, AL was a good experience. It was great just to see how Dr. King and his family lived. Also, it was good seeing some of the exact items and replica of items that Dr. King and family had. Actually being there in his parsonage house, was an experience no history or textbook could have replaced.

Martin Luther King Jr. Notes- Tuesday
These are notes from the Montgomery location experience. We saw inside Dr. King` s parsonage house. On Tuesday, we went to the Dexter Parsonage Museum. After this, we saw information on the Montgomery Bus Boycott. And then we saw the Dexter Church. We saw where Martin Luther King Jr. lived in Montgomery, Al. We then saw the Dexter parsonage film and saw the film “if walls could talk”. It was really special to see pictures that were only in this Museum, and only one of the pictures was published. We learned that the Bus Boycott lasted for over a yr. (which is long to have a boycott) Dexter Baptist Church really started to flourish w/ Vernon John. We also learned about other brown folk in the area and learned that Dr. Harns had the only pharmacy in town. These were just things that we learned by talking to our tour guide, that we most likely would not have learned reading a book. Some of these things were not written but kept in the community and spread by word of mouth.

Now I am at Selma, at the St. James` hotel. Selma was definitely a great, surprising, and historical experience. First when the group and I arrived at Selma, we went to this Museum around the corner from the historic “Bloody Sunday” bridge, we also walked across the bridge and went to the Museum to get a tour. We also saw pictures and many other historical displays related to the collective movement in Selma. Again, I have seen videos and read about what took place at the “Edmund Pettus Bridge” but actually walking across the bridge and being there was something else. Before walking across the bridge we also visited Selma`s museum right around the corner and at the bottom of the bridge. This museum had many pictures and other historical displays related to the collective movement in Selma.
As I reflect, on the reenactment of the Slavery Museum in Selma, AL- I still need time for the experience to process. A lot took place, and there were a lot of emotions that came about through out and from the experience. One thing I will say is that I did feel bad whenever I heard the tour guides say the N word. Even knowing it was a reenactment and knowing they were acting everything out I still felt very uncomfortable and slightly angry when the word was expressed.

Notes from Birmingham – In Birmingham, we watched a movie in the ”?”theater on Jazz music in Birmingham. This was an enjoyable place for me because I listen to various types of music, and jazz is one of them. Birmingham was called the magic city or Music City. School teachers, preachers, and folks who did manual labor in the town all wanted to one day become musicians.
We also learned how black musicians were disciplined by instructions and how black musicians had to organize their own bands + organization. Frank “Doc” Adams was our tour guide and he is a great musician from Birmingham. John T. Fess Waltey- taught about everybody music. Learned about Erskie Hawkins. We learned about the term “head arrangement”, which meant to sing or play something without writing things down. Other famous and influential musicians mentioned were Hayword Henry, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sun Ra.

As I look at the trip as a whole- I feel very thankful for just being apart of the trip. The trip was definitely a once in a life time experience for me, as I predicted it would be. I really liked how there was so much effort put in by the individual’s in the south to keep important history alive. A lot of the things learned from the trip were significant because these were things that I did not know before. Or in other words, these were things I had not learned from a history book. Actually being there, and going to these historical locations really helped me to gain more.

Also, it was definitely a great experience meeting Fred Gray and Congressman Lewis and hearing them talk about their experiences. Fred Gray was the lawyer that got MLK Jr. and Rosa Parks out of jail, and Congressman Lewis was a student alongside Dr. King. Both played very important roles in Civil Rights movements and are still doing work now.

I also found it satisfying to see how well put together things had to be for various civil rights movements to be successful. Also, (similar to Obama`s election) I found that a lot of people had to do things collectively to get the overall goal and job done.

From viewing a lot of pictures, I found that you can learn a lot from just looking at a picture. From these pictures, you can determine facial expressions, the atmosphere, and how everyone is reacting. You can also determine whether everyone is reacting the same or whether one person or amongst a group of people have different facial expressions. From this trip and the many museums, I learned why people say “a picture has a thousand words”.  

Also, in Montgomery, we went to the Rosa Parks Museum which was also a great experience being able to see pictures displays and the actual documents of legal documents from Dr. King and Rosa Parks’ situations. There was also a reenactment section of the tour of Rosa Park’s bus ride experience. I also gained a lot from this museum`s tour.

It also was a great experience being in Alabama because this is where my relatives on my father`s side of the family is from (various areas in Alabama). So it was good being in AL for my first time, and actually meeting people who reminded me of family.

We ended our trip in Memphis, TN at the Loraine Hotel Museum. This is where Dr. King was shot and killed. I know the group learned a lot being there. It was not a happy museum but overall I definitely appreciated seeing the Museum, and being able to tell people about the experience and to say “I was there”.

For whatever reason they have, from this trip, I found that there are still many people making great efforts to keep history alive, and I am glad to see this movement by people in our society. The Martin Luther King Jr. tour was a great one for real. It has been tiresome, after driving about 15 hours driving the van for the trip, but as I am back here at WVU- I will say that I miss being around more people that look like me, traveling, learning more about history, and eating that good ol` “soul food.”

“Odessa`s Blessing definitely was a Blessing”

Day 5

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:41:00 EST

Arlene

Today, we departed for Memphis. It was a warm and sunny day. We checked in and went to the Loraine Motel Museum. It was quite a source of information. We first went into a room, which contained information about all the civil rights women who made a difference.

Next, we went into an auditorium and watched the movie about Dr. King. After the movie we walked through the museum and observed all the information about the civil rights movement. We saw a replica of the bus that Rosa Parks was arrested on. We saw a replica of a greyhound bus that African Americans were not allow to ride during Jim Crow days. We saw moving murals of demonstrators being attacked by dogs and water hoses. We saw demonstrators being beating with Billy Clubs by police. We saw the cell that Dr. King stayed in while in jail. The letter from the Birmingham jail that Dr. King wrote was posted on the wall. He wrote on toilet paper and edges of newspaper. Dr. King was a brilliant and peaceful man.

Arriving at the room in which Dr. King stayed, we looked at his room (it was arranged to show exactly how the room looked on that sad day) and we could also see where he stood when his was killed. There was a huge red and white wreath hanging from the balcony marking the place that he stood when he was gunned down. Across the street was a warehouse, which served as the place where the killer stood. It showed the killer shotgun and some of his clothes.
The warehouse contained a lot of information about how the communities were working together to bring about change. The civil rights marches were during a very sad time in history. We still have a long way to go. We have made progress, but everything is not as it should be everyone is still not equal. Dr. King, Rev. Shuttleworth and many other unspoken nonviolent protesters provided the leadership for the opportunities we all enjoy today, but the struggle is not over. There is so much more to be done.

We had dinner at Neely’s. It is known for its barbecue. The food was outstanding and the staff was wonderful. If you should go to Memphis, make sure you visit Neely’s.

After leaving the restaurant, we went to Beale Street. There were bands playing jazz up and down the street. You did not have to be in the restaurant to hear the music. There many people walking up and down the street. It was quite a sight to behold. You need to visit Beale Street if you ever travel to Memphis.

After our trip to Beale Street, we went back to our hotel to pack and get some sleep. It was time to go back to Morgantown the next morning and it was a very long ride. We developed friendships. I got to know people that would never have known without taking this trip. I developed a great respect for the people that traveled with me.

The Civil Rights movement was very organized. It was something that needed to happen.

The MLK trip has revealed to me some many things that I did not know. I have a greater admiration for the foot soldiers that made many sacrifices for me. They could have said “No this road is too hard”, but they did not. They kept on anyhow. I salute them. I will never forget what they have done for me. They have challenged me to do my part to make a difference. There is still a lot of work for equality for all men. Everyone should visit the places that we traveled to. There were large crowds of people to see these civil rights monuments. There were people of many different hues. Parents brought their children to teach. It is quite beautiful to know that parents want their children to see what happens when people tire of injustice. It important to know that every man, woman, and child deserves justice and freedom. The color of one’s skin should not be a reason to deny them that freedom and justice.

I truly learned a lot from the MLK study tour. My life will never be the same. It was a blessing to me.

3-18

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:36:00 EST

Birmingham, AL was our first stop on this day. We toured the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Again, we had the fortune of having a guide, Mr. Clark, who insisted on being called “Doc”, who was 80 years young, who had played for many bands including Duke Ellington’s. His tour was great because he not only told about the history of jazz, he was able to relive it for us because he was part of it as it grew from its infancy in the 40’s and 50’s to the present time. Doc played his clarinet during various parts of the tour as he illustrated an important turning point or a song that had become popular.

He spoke of the very strong impact of Franks who developed the Negro marching band at the Industrial School. Because of Franks’ love of music, he established bands and taught the members how to play the instruments. Not only that, he required that they learn to read the music. As a result, many of them later became famous in their own right, establishing their own bands and touring the country, playing in black clubs as well as in segregated white venues.

In the afternoon, we went to the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and saw a movie that depicted the civil unrest of the times.
The September 15, 1963 racially motivated bombing of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, which resulted in the death of four innocent black girls, was the lowest point of the Civil Rights movement and perhaps one of the darkest days in Birmingham’s history. Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Addie Mae Collins were killed in the explosion. Angry blacks rioted and the civil authorities responded with great violence. Others eventually were killed as well. There were over 50 bombings of churches, homes, black businesses over an 18 year period that started in 1947.

Freedom Park was across the street from the church. The marchers would usually gather here to organize before starting their march. Many were brutally attacked and beaten in this park by police and attack German Shepherd dogs.

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute was the last place we visited on Wednesday. As the name implies, it focused on the atrocities associated with the difficulties that the black man and woman had while trying to secure the right to vote. It also contained a large display on theories that are abundant regarding how Dr. King was killed, by whom, who was the mastermind, etc. Did James Earl Ray act alone or was he paid by others? Was the FBI or some other US Agency involved?

Unforgettable Experience

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:20:00 EST

We ended our tour in Memphis, TN at the Lorraine Motel where Dr. King was shot and killed. The hotel, along with the building directly across from it, is now a museum. This historical establishment is MAGNIFICENT! It contains so much information; this museum brought together everything else we had learned and discussed throughout the week. But there was some new information; a video was offered that contained information I had never heard. I never knew Dr. King had said he didn’t think he would live to see 40 or that after he delievered his “Mountain Top” speech he was so overwhelmed he had to be helped to his seat. Listening to this speech made me think that he somehow knew that his time may have been coming to an end.

At the end of the self-guided tour as we stood outside Lorraine looking up at room 306, Ms. Marjorie said the weather the day of Dr. King’s assassination was similar the weather we were experiencing that day: cloudy and overcast. Instantly, an awkward feeling filled me, a sad feeling.

Dr. King was such a great man, a man who inspired us all. But, we must also remember the others, the unsung heroes (the normal citizens who put their lives on the line) & the young professionals of that time, like Fred Gray, who were behind the scenes while working just as hard. These people are still alive, still sharing their stories, and still fighting the good fight.

Now that I have returned to my daily routine, I cannot believe how fast spring break went by. I am so grateful I had this opportunity and I am now encouraging friends and family members to visit the places our group toured. I also plan to make a scrapbook including the nearly 200 pictures I took during the tour; I will do this so that I will NEVER forget!

Day Three

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:18:00 EST

We continued our tour of Montgomery. On Monday morning, we toured Dr. King’s parsonage which had been bombed when he was the pastor of Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. His home was bombed while he and his family lived there. It’s really very hard to understand the kind of hatred that would make anyone wanted to bomb his or her fellow man. We could see how he and his family lived. We were showed the place where the bomb entered the house. Our eyewitness reporter told us how Mrs. King and the children were at home. She told us how Mrs. King and a friend were sitting in the room next to the room where the bomb exploded. When the bomb exploded, they ran to the place where the baby was sleeping to make sure that their baby (Yolanda) was safe. Dr. King was out of town. I can imagine the pain that he felt when he heard that his home had been bombed and his wife and daughter were at home. I can imagine the relief that he had when he heard that they were okay.

After leaving their home, we went to Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. It has an active membership of 300. We were taken on a tour of the church. The church is well taken care of. Dr. King was the pastor of Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church for a while. The church is beautiful. The people are very proud of the fact that Dr. King was once their pastor.

We had lunch at a wonderful southern restaurant, Odessa’s Blessing. The food was delicious and staff was very gracious.

We traveled on to Selma. Our next stop was the Voter’s Rights Museum. It was quite an education. The eyewitness reporter had participated in the protest marches. He was eleven years old at the time and had been jailed two times. The children marched to protest the voting discrimination. He said that they were imprisoned from 10 AM to 11PM at night each time and did not receive any food.

They have a wall in the Voter’s Right’s Museum. Everyone who participated in the March from Selma to Montgomery is asked to sign cards stating that they were there. They had policemen who beat the marchers, marchers, hecklers, and observers who were there to sign cards to say that they were there.

It was hard to believe that African Americans were asked such ridiculous questions as: How many bubbles are in a bar of soap?

How many black jellybeans are in a large jar of jellybeans? Of course their answer was never the correct answer. These were questions that they had to answer correctly before they could register. The white people did not have to answer any questions. They just walked in and registered.

The marches started because the people were tired. I can understand that. They were treated like they were not people. I can’t understand how anyone can look at another person and say to him or herself that they are not good enough to have the same rights. People were killed to prevent African Americans from voting. People were beaten, hosed with strong sprays of water that would remove the skin, lynched, shot, and dogs were trained to attach them.

The Freedom Riders came to the South to help people register to vote. The people had to hide them. Those who did not want the African Americans to vote schemed to kill and hurt the Freedom Riders. They did not want them there. They were very brave.

We walked in the footsteps of very brave people. They were willing to die for what they believed. The Freedom riders came from the North some of them were killed just because they wanted to help people vote in American. I believe that my America was and is the home of the free and the land of the brave. I never read anything in the Constitution that said if a person wants to vote and their color is Black that they should not be allowed to vote and should die.

Where did these people who hate learn to hate? Why do they hate? Why should one group be the victim of hate?

We walked across the Selma Bridge, which had been the site of Bloody Sunday and other voter registration demonstrations.

It was truly an experience. I respect those ancestors who protested even though they knew that they would be attacked. Freedom to vote was very important to them. It was more important than staying in a comfort zone. Now, some people do not vote. My question to those now chose to not vote is: Why don’t you vote?

The eyewitness reporter showed us an example jail cells that they were placed in. There were pictures of all the black elected officials after Black Reconstruction. They lost their positions after the Jim Crow Laws were implemented. Jim started laws were the start of Blacks not being allowed to register to vote. It legitimated these denials of equality to African Americans.

The cells were horrible. Across the street from the National Voting Rights Museum, there was an apartment house. On the second floor, there was a dog on the roof, a confederate flag, an American Flag and a Blue and White Flag. I wonder why that was there. The dog was barking pretty loud. It was good that he was on second floor of the building. He was not a friendly dog. It was truly an education.

After leaving the bridge in Selma, we went to Brown Chapel. It was where the marchers assembled. It is a beautiful church.

Next, we went to the Slavery and Confederate museum. It had one section on slavery, one section on the civil war and one section lynching. We left at 5:10. They told us to come back because they had something special for us. We checked the St. James Hotel. It is an older hotel which has been restored. It was built in the 1800’s and then closed. It was reopened in the 1960’s.

We returned to the slavery and the confederate museum. This time we had a very intense experience. We treated like slaves. It was an intense experience. I will never forget it.

After the session, we returned to our hotel and were treated very well our rooms were great and the food was excellent. In the morning they prepared an excellent complimentary breakfast.

As We Ride Home...

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:05:00 EST

As we ride home, we sit here thinking about the past week. We hope that what we have learned can be taken back to our friends, family, and community and be used in the best way possible. Yesterday’s visit to the National Civil Rights Museum and the Lorraine Hotel brought back the similar experiences we shared at the Birth Home and the Parsonage. Each stop was moving. Seeing where MLK was born and lived this week and then seeing his last days and where he fell was a lot to process. We would not have the friends that we have today; the friends made prior and the friends made throughout the trip if it had not been for Dr. King. We try to think how life would have been without the Civil Rights Movement, and we cannot see the world any other way. The sheer fact that people are still ignorant on issues of race enrages us. This trip has really shown us the white privileges that we regrettably enjoy and how our African American friends still have to battle everyday. This trip has helped us grow as people and grow as white people knowing what our race has done and acknowledging it and knowing that we need to change the views of people around us to make it better for all. Thank you to our new friends and the Center for Black Culture and Research for this amazing and eye opening experience.

Your friends,

Andrew and Rita

3-17

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:53:00 EST

We toured the home where King and his family lived during his pastorage of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church from 1954 – 1960. We were fortunate to have a presentation by members of the church who knew King when he was there and who had worked with him during his time at the church. The King’s 2 oldest children were born at this home. It was located in a prominent black section of town. It is well preserved.

The Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery was our next historic visit. It was erected on land that had been used as a Slave Trader’s Pen and is about a block from the State Capitol and in close proximity of other state department buildings. It is amazing that the white establishment allowed it to be built and to remain in existence so close to the place where they meted out such segregated policies and abuse.

We left Montgomery and drove to Selma following the road that King and thousands of others traveled on those fateful days in 1955 during the “March from Selma to Montgomery”.

We arrived in Selma, AL in the afternoon. The day was a sunny one, and our experiences mirrored the day in that we were aglow and overawed by the volume of material and artifacts that had been collected to help everyone not forget what our people went through during the voting and civil rights struggles.

Mr. Sam Walker’s presentation about the National Voting Rights Museum and the artifacts were astounding. Numerous items of memorabilia are displayed in every room. Prominently placed in view for all to see is “The I Was There Wall” where anyone who participated in the March to Selma in any way can list their name and involvement on the wall – black and white alike.

To walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, though it be 43 years later, was very moving. To think that 2 days before, we spent an hour with one of the leaders of that first march, now Congressman John Lewis, of Georgia, a Sunday that was to become known all over the world as “Bloody Sunday” because of the unprovoked beatings and bites and tear gas, etc., that was used against the marchers. It was 2 weeks later, after an injunction was obtained, that allowed the march to come to fruition, under the protection of nationalized troops.

Many of the preparatory meetings for the march took place at Brown Chapel, a magnificent edifice, which we were privileged to not only tour, but to hear from the pastor, Rev. Jackson, who was a young man during the time of the marches and living in Selma.

We ended the day with a visit to the Slavery and Civil War Museum. This was a place that vividly portrayed many of the atrocities that slaves as well as “free” black men and women suffered over a span of many years. It varied from the use of profanity in name calling to beatings to burnings to lynchings; it included separation of families and numerous other indecent and inappropriate acts. The realities of this place and its portrayals were depressing but left one with a new appreciation for the inner strengths that the slaves and black men and women must have had to endure and to overcome such mistreatment.

Our hotel for the night was a quaint place that had been modernized but had many preserved features. It was interesting to know and to experience the fact that just 43 years ago, we could not have stayed there.

3-16

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:52:00 EST

We arrived in Tuskegee, AL early and toured a wonderful, eye opening museum, the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center. It traced the history of the slave from the earliest times to the time that they were freed paralleling their history with that of this country and the world. It also covered the contributions of Native Americans as well as African Americans in the history of Alabama. The center portrayed the abuses of these peoples through slavery, segregation and lack of civil rights.

Instrumental in the development of the Center is Fred Gray, a civil rights lawyer who was prominent in the civil rights movement. He spoke with us for about an hour essentially giving us his life history to date, but specifically focusing on his significant involvement with Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., during the 1960’s civil rights movement. Also, he was very involved with the NAACP from a legal perspective, fighting many cases and litigating to integrate higher education institutions.

We left Tuskegee, bound for the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, AL, a city that in many ways has maintained much of the architecture of the Old South, that elderly blacks have grown to dislike, due to the violence and mistreatment of the 1800s and early to late 1900s, times when the African American was supposed to be free, but wasn’t. The museum is outstanding. Unfortunately, pictures of the inside of the exhibits were forbidden. Seeing the bus and listening to the portrayals of what happened not only to her but to so many others sent ice-chilling shivers up and down my spine.

Last Day

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:36:00 EST

The National Civil Rights Museum was a breathtaking experience. The exhibits inside were meticulously put together and perfectly told the story of the movement. Their location inside the Lorraine Hotel made the experience that much more memorable.

When you walked into the museum, you didn’t even notice you were in the hotel until you walked into a side room that happened to be the historic room 306. They had reconstructed the hotel rooms to allow you to enter them and see them how they were on that day and look out the balcony as they did in the famed ‘pointing picture.’ The artifacts that had been collected and added to the collection, only made the museum more beautiful.

When you walked across the street into the second part of the museum that was the boarding house that Ray stayed in, the feeling just got eerie. They had opened up the room where he stayed and let you see the bathroom where it happened and look out the same windows he did. They had also recovered numerous artifacts from his trial.

In reflection, the trip was an amazing experience. None of us were ready for the emotional toll all of this would have on us, but I think that it’s worth the pain for a few days. The information we’ve all collected in this short week is just a drop in the bucket, but I’m sure that it has sparked a real interest in us, as a group, wanting to know more about our ancestors and their struggles to make our lives easier.

Day VI - The End of an Amazing Journey

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:35:00 EST

Today my room mate and I woke up and realized that this was the last day of the trip. We left Birmingham and drove to Memphis, Tennessee. In Memphis we toured the Loraine Motel Museum which illustrates in great detail the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. To have the opportunity to be in the same spot King lived his last moment was an experience that is hard to put into words. The museum has done a fantastic job at keeping the site authentic and presents a remarkable plethora of details. Close by was the National Civil Rights Museum that was very impressive and interesting. The large complex mapped out the struggle for equality African Americans faced from the times of slavery to the present day. The displays and exhibits were expertly crafted and gave the spectators a very in depth view of the Civil Rights Movement.

Later that evening we all went to Memphis’ Beale Street. A festive and lively part of downtown Memphis that was full of blues and jazz music. The street had every different color and sound imaginable lining both sides. Every member of our group was all smiles during this event while we took in all the sights and sounds.