tennisinmybloodsoulchild

[tennisinmybloodsoulchild]

Day 10 and Beyond; Spread Your Wings and Fly!!

It’s interesting as I write this. I’m actually completing this two years after completing my civil rights pilgrimage amongst one of the most troubling times in our history since the civil rights movement began. I didn’t complete my day 10 experience as I had hoped, but oddly enough the timing has caused me to reflect a lot on my pilgrimage. I’m reminded of the struggle of those that came before me, and the heavy toll they paid so that I could have many of the rights and freedoms I have today. We are in the midst of a pandemic, the world seems to be in chaos. Race relations in this country are at an all time low. Every time I turn on the TV, I’m reminded that as far as we have come, there is still so much more work we have to do.

Eric Garner, Tamar Rice, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Michael Brown, Jacob Blake. These are just a sampling of the names of black people that lost their lives at the hands of law enforcement. As a black man myself I have a hard time watching the news and their stories. Most recently George Floyd and Jacob Blake’s death was hard for me to watch. I found myself in tears, upset and confused as to why these types of scenarios keep happening.

As I think about the time I spent on the pilgrimage, its hard to put into words what the pilgrimage was like for me. I tried to capture during the moment what I was experiencing in an effort to bring people along on my journey. It took me about a week after the pilgrimage to capture my thoughts and put them into words to share with people. I remember feeling emotionally exhausted and still a bit raw from everything.

The bright spot is that I felt fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet people (foot soldiers) that were a part of the movement and were able to tell us personally their stories. Initially when I came back from the pilgrimage I felt this overwhelming urge to do something. You can’t go on something like that and not be changed. On the pilgrimage, I met friends that I will have a bond and connection with for life. I also left a changed man. I came into the journey not knowing what to expect and was a little afraid because I knew that it would be emotional. I learned things that I thought I should know as an African American person born in the south, but I realize the history I learned in school was very different than what I learned on the pilgrimage.

After the pilgrimage, most of all I felt like I could no longer be a spectator watching from the sidelines. It was important for me to use my voice no matter how small I may have thought it was to be a force for change. If you have read my blog and if you are as disheartened by what’s happening in the world today as I am, I hope you find your voice and what feels comfortable for you to affect change. There are some that believe that is supporting people in protest, there are those that will feel that they can financially support organizations with a mission to fight racism and social injustice, and there are those that do nothing. Most importantly you can use your voice to vote to bring about the change you want to see.

As I remember this picture I remember feeling free. Feeling invigorated and inspired to use this new found knowledge to be a force for change. I am kneeling in front of a bridge where blood was spilled, leaders like Martin Luther King and John Lewis walked across this bridge and risked their lives so that I could have the rights I have today. I hope this blog educates you and both inspires you to find your voice and know that you can make a difference. It’s not just the role of those that are marginalized and discriminated against to fight for justice and equality. My hope is that more people will feel strong enough to step up and speak out against racial injustice. I hope in some small way if you have been watching from the sidelines, you find what makes you comfortable to get involved and you use your voice and platform to affect change. As for me I’m going to continue to spread my wings and fly and use my voice to try and help bring about change one day at a time.

[tennisinmybloodsoulchild]

Day 9 - Celebrate Good Times Come On!

As I round out my journey on this pilgrimage, today we had an opportunity to participate in the Selma Jubilee.

Jubilee happens in Selma each year and commemorates the anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” and the Selma to Montgomery March. This event boast all sorts of activities but a highlight is the parade that the city puts on with people from all over. Dancing, music and people remembering the terrible events that happened on that day by coming together to support and educate the African American community.

It was really exciting to see the many different people that came out, taste the great food, and support the many vendors that also participated, with the majority being African American. It reminded me how when this community comes together there is great beauty and strength in our history, and I was proud to be both African American and to see such a positive celebration.

Today was the last night together with the Pilgrims and this journey has been nothing short of life changing. I have had the opportunity to learn about the civil rights struggle in a way that rivals anything I ever learned in a book or from a television program. Speaking to foot soldiers that lived and continue to live and fight for equality by sharing their very personal and inspiring stories.

The friends I have also met on this journey are now a part of my new community of friends and contacts.

Today’s blog is really about celebrating the experience. There were many tough and heavy days. Some filled with tears, and sadness. Tears and sadness as I learned about the reality and history of racism and opression of African Americans historically in this country. There are a lot of people that will disagree and choose to believe the narrative that has often times been presented, but I’ve learned and seen first hand how segragation and discrimination has played out in many forms beginning since the days of slavery.

Racism no longer looks the same as it did during slavery and the 50s and 60s, or have constant visuals of hooded people bombing houses and churches or lynching thousands of people in this country. It does still exist in the wealth divide in this country, access to education and resources, and laws that still disproportionally impact people of color, to this day.

I leave this journey coming back changed because of this experience. I believe it is impossible to come back and not speak up and help shed light on the truth of the history of race in this country. Not the edited, often times muted version of what really took place, and how racism can still be seen in many forms today. It just has a different face.

When you really understand this, you can more easily see how the issue of racism is systemic in many ways and isn’t an easy fix, and requires everyone having a seat at the table not just having dialogue but actually making measureable change.

It also means we can’t be afraid to admit that it still happens and that equality isn’t realized until everyone has equality.

I saw a board when we visited the University of Alabama and I thought it really spoke to a subject I am passionate about and really resonated for me.

While I’m not sure the University of Alabama or many other universities for that matter have fully realized this, I do believe that in order to truly achieve change, it is going to require that “everyone” is welcome to the pool so to speak and that everyone is able to swim together once they are there. It will require many different areas of diversity like those listed above; however, every group has to have the same space to contribute. In may cases this is not currently happening which results in a few people speaking for and making decisions for the many.

This country was founded on the belief that all men are created equal. History shows that the American dream is one that people from around the world have traveled to our shores to obtain. What history does not completely tell you is how this country has systemically excluded people from fully being able to realize that dream.

I challenge those of you that are reading this to both explore and challenge your understanding of the truth, and does that match up with the facts. While I realize that may not change the hearts and minds of some, and one can decide to believe what they will, that doesn’t change the reality that the facts are still the facts.

There are numerous resources, museums, laws etc that support these facts. Get educated. When you know better you do better. It also starts with acknowledgement and the reality that while things are much better, we still have a very long way to go.

You only have to look at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave to realize that.

Tomorrow we cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma and that will complete this journey. In my last blog tomorrowI hope to showcase some of the pilgrims on this journey with me and how they plan to take this experience back to their communities. From there my journey continues in a different way.

For now.........this journey has one day left!

[tennisinmybloodsoulchild]

Day 8 - Homecoming!

Day 8 started in the city of Jackson, Mississippi, the city I was born in. As we drove from the hotel to the home of Medgar Evers, it was weird and both very familiar as we drove down roads that as a child I can vividly remember. Passing the Jackson Mall where my mom and I used to go to Piccadilly Restaurant, and I would order the same thing everytime. Rice and gravy, chopped steak, corn, green beans, soft butter roll.

We arrived at the Medgar Evers home. While I was familiar with the home because it was across the street from my great grandmother’s house on my step father’s side and the home next to where Byron De La Beckwith hid and shot Medgar Evers.

If you are not familiar with the story of Medgar Evers, he was a civil rights activist born in Mississippi in 1925, and worked as the Secretary of the NAACP. Medgar was a World War 2 Veteran and college graduate. He became active in the civil rights movement in the 1950’s.

Following the 1954 ruling of the United States Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated public schools were unconstitutional, Medgar challenged the segregation of the state supported public University of Mississippi. He applied to law school there but was declined because of his race. He worked to further voting rights, economic opportunity, access to public facilities, and other changes in the segregated society.

It was shortly after that he was asked to take on his role at the NAACP. While I have been familiar with the story of Medgar Evers, I had never had an opportunity to personally go into the home and hear from someone that new Medgar personally to explain the story of what happened or to see the house for that matter. I learned that Medgar had come home from a meeting that night, but in that meeting Byron De La Beckwith had been in the back of the room during the meeting. This was not completely unusual because there were often times whites in meetings during that time. He went and waited for Medgar to get home.

To back up some, Medgar upon coming to Jackson specifically chose the house he did because it was in a development being built by a black developer and off the highway some. He also chose the house he did because it was nestled in between two homes, and he specifically asked for the door to be placed on the side of the house under the carport versus in the front of the house for safety. We were told that his family was always taught to not get out of the car unless they did so from under the carport and that they were taught to get out of the car on the passenger side so that the car and the house acted as a shield.

We also learned that Medgar had taught his family to often sit on the floor while watching TV below window level, and in the bedrooms the mattresses had been placed on the floor as not to be at window level. These were precautions the family took given the times and numerous threats that Medgar and his family received.

When Medgar came home from the meeting our tour person told us that his wife heard her husband pull into the driveway but after a while Medgar did not come in. She heard a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot and as they had been taught, her and the kids crawled on the floor heading towards the bathroom. Medgar had always taught his family that the safest place in the house should they hear shots or something should happen was the bathroom and so they were headed there.

As Medgar was getting boxes of shirts out of the trunk for a rally the next day in Jackson, he was shot on the right side in the back just below his shoulder. The bullet passed through him and into the house hitting the refrigerator and landing in the kitchen. You can look at the refrigerator today and see the bullet mark today. Oddly enough on the night that Medgar was shot, his family was inside watching John F. Kennedy on television give a speech.

Medgar like so many other activist in the civil rights struggle was gunned down fighting for equality. Byron De Le Beckwith left the gun where he was which it was later found.

The gun is now on display today at the Civil Rights Museum in Jackson which we visited today. Below is the rifle that he used to gun down Medgar Evers.

Byron was tried twice in 1964, but an all white jury failed to reach a conviction resulting in two hung juries. In 1994 he was tried by the state of Mississippi in a new trial based on new evidence. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Seven years after being convicted of killing Medgar Evers, he died in prison in 2001 at the age of 80.

After visiting the Medgar Evers home, we left and got a chance to visit the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. This museum is amazing and has a ton of history dating back from slavery through the civil rights movement up to today. I would highly recommend that if you haven’t had a chance to see it, if you are ever in the south and Jackson specifically that you do.

There’s so much to share during these but I continue to try and share the things that most impacted me from the day.

We are winding down on this journey and I’ve been able to experience so much. Tomorrow we will be in Selma, Alabama for Jubilee and then again on Sunday for a bit before boarding a plane for home in Atlanta.

Hard to believe there is more to this journey but I’m looking forward to it!

Let the journey continue!

[tennisinmybloodsoulchild]

Day 7 - Money talks!

Money talks but not in the way you might think! You see there is a small city in Mississippi called Money, Mississippi. You can literally today see Money in a block. Money, MIssissippi would become a place where one of the most privatol stories in the American civil rights struggle took place, and it involved a 14 year old boy named Emmett Till.

For those that might not be familiar with the story, it involved a young man named Emmett Till, born in 1941 and grew up in a middle class black neighborhood in Chicago.

In 1955 Emmett at the age of 14 was accused of whistling at Carolyn Bryant, a white woman who was a cashier at a grocery store in Money. Those that knew Emmett described him as a very vibrant, fun young man that had a personality that always made him the center of attention. It was because of these traits and characteristics that when Emmett learned that his cousin would be traveling back from Chicago with his uncle to Mississippi, and wanted to return with him, there was concern about whether he would be able to understand that the south culture and expectation for blacks was very different than Chicago.

Today I was able to hear from Emmett Till’s last living relative Wheeler Parker who rode with Emmett on the train from Chicago, and was with Emmett at the grocery store that day, and in the house on the morning he was taken from the house and later killed. He was able to share exactly what took place despite the fact that there are other sources that incorrectly document the story throughout history. We spoke to a living eye witness to the events.

Wheeler is the older child pictured to the right behind the smaller child, and Emmett is pictured to the left. Wheeler described today that on that day when they went to the grocery store, they went into the store and he was in the store first. As Emmett came into the store he said that he was just hoping that Emmett did not do anything silly because this was Mississippi and while they were in the store nothing happened. He said when they left the store him, Emmett, and his uncle were outside when Carolyn came out of the store. At some point Emmett whistled at Carolyn. Wheeler said that they immediately knew they had to leave and they all jumped into the car. He went on to say that normally Emmett was usually joking, but in that moment he could sense that nobody was laughing as both him and the uncle knew that this was not good. As they were leaving and riding down the road, they noticed a car that was falling them and assumed that someone was chasing them. They pulled the car over on a dirt road and got out of the car and ran into the cotton field, only for the car to pass by them.

They got back into the car and agreed that they would not tell their grand father. In the south, young black males were raised to know look at or give attention to white women, and in fact there are many historical accounts where black men were killed if they were thought to have been inappropriate with white women. Many men in that time will tell you that if you were walking on the side of the street with a white woman you would immediately cross the street as to avoid her. This was common knowledge for those that lived in the south.

They all got home. This happened on a Wednesday and it wasn’t for a few more days that things would drastically change. Wheeler recalls talking to someone, and I can’t recall who he said it was but the individual told him that this was not over. Thursday came, Friday came and they all went out either that Friday or Saturday in downtown Greenwood, Mississippi as that was the spot to go. Four doors later, early that Sunday morning around 2:30 AM, Carolyn Bryant’s husband Roy and his half-brother J.W. Milam came to the house. Wheeler describes the night as black because there were no street lights, and you couldn’t even see your hands in front of you. Wheeler explained that the men knocked at the door and they came in with a pistol in one hand and a flashlight in the other. He said that they went to each room and when they came in they said they wanted the boy from Chicago. Of course both Wheeler and Emmett had come down from Chicago but they said at some point they were looking for the fat or larger boy from Chicago.

Wheeler said that in that moment he did the only thing he knew to do which was to get on his knees and begin praying. He thought for sure that he was going to die and he closed his eyes preparing to be shot in the head. He said as the men made their way from room to room, the flashlight shined on him and they passed him and went into the next room where Emmett was in the same bed with his uncle.

Wheeler said that the men said they were going to take Emmett and that his mother initially offered the men money to leave Emmett there, and for a short while the men contemplated taking the money but then decided not to and to take Emmett from the house. Emmett was not found for a few days. He had been severely beaten and shot in the head. His body was tied and weighted down and dumped into the Tallahatchie River. One thing I learned today was that Emmett’s body was found by a couple of fisherman on the Tallahatchie, and his body was brought back and pulled up in Tallahatchie County. This was believed so that the Sheriff would have jurisdiction to the body. We heard that the Sherriff of the town believed it was his job to protect the murderers.

This is where Emmett’s body was dumped. In the Tallahatchie River. It was found about 2 miles down.

This is the court in which the men were tried and subsequently acquitted. It was restored to look as it did in 1955 when the men were put on trial.

History says that Carolyn Bryant testified that Emmett actually touched her, grabbed her around the hips and asked her on a date, even saying that Emmett said to her that he had been with white women before. Wheeler said that all of these accounts were false and did not happen, but the narrative that was pushed out was one that Emmett was a predator and behaved very inappropriately with Carolyn Bryant.

She would later reveal in an interview to a reporter in 2005 that she in fact lied about Emmett Till touching her, and that Emmett did nothing that warranted what happened to him.

Today little remains of the grocery store that Emmett went into that start this all, and there are efforts to restore this store to what it might have looked like back then, but for now it is an obscure building that for a long time after the murder, many people didn’t even know the relevance to the Emmett Till story until some concerned people helped raise funds to fund a marker that the Mississippi Freedom Trail was able to place at the location.

Something that was shared by Wheeler to the group was that for a time after the discovery of Emmett’s body, his grandfather said he often could not sleep for fear that the men would return and would go out into the cemetery and sleep, even saying that on occasions he noticed men out around the house. You have to imagine that he feared for his life because he wittnessed the men come to the house and take Emmett away.

Roy and his half brother would later confess to a magazine that paid them $4000 that they did in fact beat and kill Emmett Till as they could not be tried again for his murder under the Double Jeopardy law and had been acquired for Emmett’s murder.

Emmett’s murder felt it was important for the world to see the brutality of what happened to Emmett and chose to have an open casket funeral. I will warn you that it’s not a easy thing to look at but she felt words alone could not explain or capture the brutality of how two white men had beaten and mutalated a 14 year old black boy, shooting him and leaving his body in the Tallahatchie. The reality is that these types of incidents were more common than many would like to admit and Emmitt’s story was one of many.

Her decision to have an open casket funeral would be a one of many moments in the civil rights struggle that would forever change the course of the struggle. There are many that did not know the Emmett Till story, and I have to admit I was one of them. It was not a story that was readily told or shared, and I certainly did not know the brutality in which it happened.

Today we stood on the bridge and we took a moment of silence for not only Emmett but also African Americans past and present who have lost their life that in many cases were ratially motivated. We dropped rosed in the water to honor them and sang as the roses flowed down the river.

As with many of the foot soldiers that I have been able to meet and hear their stories, it has been both life changing and awesome to hear these personal stories. Not from a book or a perspective that maybe does not have all the facts, but directly from these individuals. I appreciated being able to speak and hear from Wheeler Parker. There is no more personal story than one from someone that was directly there and wittnessed it.

Tallahatchie County later issued an apology to the Emmett Till family for what happened. While it couldn’t bring Emmett back, it was able to begin to heal some of the wounds.

Being born in the state of Mississippi, I grew up not knowing about an important part of my history as an African American but also as someone born in MIssissippi. Money is roughly only about 3 hours away from Jackson where I was born but I never knew this. I’m happy to have had this opportunity to learn.

As difficult at times as this journey has been.................it still continues.

Tomorrow we visit the home of where Medgar Evers was murdered. Oddly enough my Grandmother’s house where I grew up and where she lived my entire life until she passed away is within walking distance. I did know about this house and often times saw it because it was across the street from my great grandmother on my step father’s side. Looking forward to tomorrow as my journey on this pilgrimage is coming to a close in 3 days.

[tennisinmybloodsoulchild]

Day 6 - Speak your truth!

Today’s blog is really going to be a short one as the day was a lighter day where I really feel like I was able to really do some self reflection and enjoy small connection moments that I experienced today

We visited the University of Alabama today. Talk about a place that bleeds red.....Crimson Tide country for sure. We visited the campus to really not only get a chance to tour the college but also to look at how schools in the south have factored into the civil rights journey. The campus is huge and quite beautiful.

Looking at the campus the buildings are these big audacious buildings that quite frankly resemble a consistent architectural design. They almost have a plantation stifle appearance, but are still quite beautiful.

Underneath the beauty of the campus as we learned through our tour there are still some challenges that the university faces. Inclusion and diversity as well as equality are still something the university is working towards achieving. I described to someone that there felt like an undertone that still made the college a very segregated campus. The population of the University is roughly about 10-11% African American, and when you add other races of color and international students, that number only increased roughly another 2 to 3%, which means that the college is roughly about 85% white.

We had an opportunity to meet two beautiful young women named Alexus and Teryn

These two young ladies helped to give our tour and both as we learned were dedicated to equality and felt a personal mission and obligation to helping bring that to the college. When you look at Teryn who is on the right, you can’t help but see her shirt that expresses her pride. Black, No sugar, No cream! I actually loved this shirt. You notice her big gold earrings as well as her hat that resembles those worn back in the 60’s by the Black Panthers.

Then there is Alexus who is on the left in her woke voter shirt, both women unashamed to rock their natural hair and hold up their fist as a symbol of power. As I got to talk to both women a little, I was curious about their experience on the campus. I asked Alexu what was it like as an African American student at the University of Alabama. I asked her if she felt safe on the campus as a woman of color, and if students of color in general felt safe and comfortable.

She explained that it really depended on the individual. She explained that there are some students that feel like things are ok and nothing is wrong and that discrimination does not happen on the campus. She went on to say that this was not necessarily the case for her, and I asked her to tell me more.

She explained that there have been several situations on the campus that have happened in which she found troubling and an example of what students of color go through on the campus. She gave me a personal example of how when she lived on campus she came back to her dorm once only to discover that someone had written on her door “Unknown Nigger” and others students had things written on their door that said “Nigger #4”, or whatever number. Of course I was shocked to learn that this could happen, and I asked her what happened.

She said that many times when this information had been presented to the university, nothing was done. She even explained to me a situation where a male friend came back to his dorm to find a swatzstika drawn on his door. She said that when this was presented to the university the student was asked to clean it off his door himself, and nothing was really done about the incident.

The most concerning incident happened after a student posted videos on social media where she repeatedly used the n-word and other profanities. The student went on to say that she was a member of Aphi Phi sorority and she posted videos on Instagram, one of which was posted on Martin Luther King day.

In the first video she is at the sink where she turns off the water explaining “We do not waste water......because of the poor people in Syria. We don’t waste water. I love how I act like I love black people because I (expletive) hate (n-word) so that’s really interesting but I just saved the (expletive) (n-word) by shutting that water off.”

The student went on in a second video addressing the growing backlash and apparent threats to turn her into her sorority officials. “(N-word) (n-word) (n-word). I don’t care if it’s Martin Luther King Day. I’m in the south now (expletive) so everybody can (expletive) off. I’m from New Jersey so I can say (n-word) as much as I want.” Both the Alpha Phi sorority and a spokesperson for the University of Alabama moved quickly to address the situation. The Alpha Phi sorority did eject the student form the sorority. It is unclear what if any action was taken by the university with the student. Information online says that the incident was reported to the office of student conduct, but there was no mention of any disciplinary action taken against the student. I was told by Alexus that it is believed that the student resigned from the university but there was no official word that came out from the university of whether the student was expelled.

After hearing all of this I asked Alexus then why do you go to this school. If you are at a school where you don’t feel protected or that there is equality why do you stay. Her response to me was are we all supposed to leave Alabama and move away hoping that things get better or change? I feel an obligation to stay and speak my truth to help affect change.

In that moment I agreed with her that I could see her point and understood. Someone has to take up the challenge and speak out even in the face of adversity. Her words in that moment connected something that a mentor once said to me about we have an obligation to speak up in the face of challenging times or situations, even when they may seem difficult.

We continued to talk about another situation involving another student and the fact that her and many othe students didn’t see eye to eye on how to work towards equality on campus. I talked to her about needing to speak her truth to this individual, because this person might not be self aware or know that there are sounds like many people that disagree with this student’s approach but how could she know if no one ever told her.

I told her what that student does with the information from there is on them and gives Alexus more information to know where she stands and how to proceed forward, but that she was expecting someone to change their behavior, and that she had a fundamental disagreement with them but didn’t give the person an opportunity to address her concerns directly. I’ve always been a believer that confrontation is never easy and is not necessarily fun, but is an important and necessary part of life.

She thanked me for our conversation and told me that she would in fact have the conversation. We hugged and I thanked her for sharing with me her story. I also shared with her that the fight for equality is not about the short game but the long game and there is power in numbers. We have to work together and strive to find common ground if we want to move this thing forward, but that can’t happen if we don’t each hold ourselves accountable to speaking our truth.

After we left the University of Alabama we began our journey to Oxford, Mississippi. A few days ago we were asked to draw names from an envelope that contained each of our names. We were asked to observe the individual that we chose and to also keep who we pulled to ourselves. There would come a point where we would share on the bus why this person needed to be on the bus. An hour outside of Oxford we each shared why this person was needed on the bus. After that person shared the person who they talked about had to come to the front of the bus and share with the group via microphone their person. The person who spoke about me is named Jordan, a 23 year old male, who just turned 23 on the pilgrimage. He share some really nice things about why he believed I needed to be on the bus and my heart was full with appreciation. You never know how you impact people, and I was humbled to listen to his explanation.

Then it was my turn. The person I chose was a woman we cal Ms. Letha.

I know this picture is of her from the back, but of all the people on the pilgrimage Ms. Letha was someone that honestly intimidated me a little. She is older and very real and honest, never holding back what she is thinking. Over the course of the last few days I have quietly watched her as well as gotten to know her and her story. Through her story I learned that she is a strong woman, raised by her white mother and a black father. She came on this pilgrimage because through her own self reflection she learned that she has some unresolved issues with race, specifically whites and the treatment of both slaves and African Americans during the civil rights era.

Over the course of a few days, I’ve watched her cry, I’ve watched her be strong, I’ve watched her struggle, lose her voice, and find her voice and healing through this pilgrimage. I told her we need you on the bus, but more importantly I need you on the bus because of what you bring to it and how her story and connection with me has helped continue to grow me as I go through my journey on this pilgrimage. There were several moments where we shared hugs and tears and I know that I will leave this experience a better person because I had an oppourtunity to share it with her.

Lastly it was all about fun tonight! We have had some emotional days, and tomorrow we will be visiting Money Mississippi where Emmett Till, a 14 year old boy was brutally killed by two white men for supposedly whistling at a white woman back in the 60’s. I know that it will be a challenging day, but for now it was all about bowling.

We rented out one side of a bowling alley and had tons of pizza and other food and drink, and we had a chance to just have fun and connect with each other in a totally different way. Of course my competitive side comes out when there is anything competition related but it was fun to share that moment with the other pilgrims.

As I finish this blog at 2:23AM as usual I’m tired and have to be up in a short while but always look forward to capturing the day through my post. I hope in reading these you get to share in my experience and it gives you some insight into just how much I’m enjoying it but learning as well.

Some people would ask why would you want to do something so heavy and with a subject that is so emotional and at times a very controversial conversation in our country.

My response is that until we can each speak our truths around these difficult conversations and both hear and recognize the impact on our society, recognizing that despite the progress we have made, we still have a long way to go. Also that to say that racism or inequality is a thing of the past is just not true and we have to continue to press forward until it is, is the reason I am getting uncomfortable by going on this pilgrimage.

This journey is necessary.............and it’s still going!

[tennisinmybloodsoulchild]

Day 5 - There’s power in telling your story!

Over the course of the first few days of my pilgrimage, one of the consistent things that I’m learning is that there is power in your story! I have had the pleasure of meeting some amazing people. On our journey we refer to these brave people as foot soldiers. They are foot soldiers because they are fighting the fight both in their actions and ongoing commitment to using their voice and story to bring about change. I’ve also been able to have some amazing conversations with many of the pilgrims that I am sharing this journey with, and I can honestly say that I am both learning from their stories and having an opportunity to share my story.

It’s challenging me to ask myself how can I continue to share my story, and in what forum to help others.

I’ve shared in my previous blogs a couple of the foot soldiers I have been fortunate to have share their story. Today I was able to personally hear yet another amazing story. Like Bob Zellner, we have been able to have another great person join us on our bus over the last couple of days. Her name is Rev. Dr. Carolyn McKinstry.

Dr. McKinstry is a life long member of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. For those not familiar with the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, it was a prominent African American baptist church in Birmingham often used as a headquarters or organizing point during the civil rights movement.

On September 15, 1963 the church was bombed at around 10:20 in the morning. The results of that bombing became a famous event in the civil rights struggle that most people learned about in which four young African American girls died.

This horrible act would be a turning point in many ways not only strengthening the resolve of many to continue to fight but also motivating Dr. McKinstry who at the time was a 15 year old girl who was in the church that day and friends of all four of the young girls that were killed. Dr. McKinstry has stated in many interviews and even today when she spoke to us that on the day of the bombing, she walked past the area where the four girls were, and briefly spoke to them before moving on to other task she had to complete. She recalled that there was a point when she was in the church and in an office in the church, and she heard the phone ring. She picked the phone up as there was no one in the office, to which she heard a male voice say 3 minutes................ ......boom! The bomb went off and her life was forever changed.

Dr. Mikinstry survived the bombing that day, and she believed that God had spared her life so that she could continue to live in service to others. From that point she dedicated her life to helping to fight for equality.

Dr. McKinstry was one of thousands of students hosed by firemen during the 1963 marches in which policeman used fire hoses and unleashed dogs on kids and adults during the marches.

One article I read that Dr. McKinstry gave she recalls that when the pressure of the water hose hit her it tore through her sweater and tore a piece of her hair off one side of her head. That gives you an idea of the immense power and pressure of the water coming out of those hoses. Not only did Dr McKinstry survive the church bombing on that faithful day, she also survived a second bomb that destroyed a large portion of her home in 1964. Undeterred, this amazing woman has dedicated her life to speaking out on racism and teaching others by telling her story. I continue to marvel at her strength and quiet spirit. I sat with her personally today as she shared things about her story.

She went on to write a book and appear on numerous television programs that include the Oprah Winfrey show, the history and discovery channels, CNN, BBC, MSNBC, and many other local, national and international programs and forums.

As we finished up our time with her she also shared that there was still a small area of the church where we could see the burnt wood from the fire from the bomb. She explained that after the bombing the restrooms where the bomb went off and killed the four little girls had been sealed up. At the time Birmingham was known as Bombmingham because bombings had become a regular thing in the city. Many of those bombings had not been solved, and so the church decided that to prevent people from passing that area every Sunday, and being reminded of that horrible day, they would seal the area up as they also had not anticipated that the individuals responsible would be brought to justice.

There was however a small closet across from the bathrooms that the church could not afford to fix where you could still see damage from the bomb and Dr. Mikinstry told a small number of us she should show us. We followed her into this small closet and she showed us charred black wood near the top of the ceiling.

There was a good portion of this closet that you could see that had been burned and charred from the bomb and the heat. As with a couple of other experiences that I have had during this pilgrimage, I couldn’t help but realize that I was in a place that had historical importance in not only the civil rights movement, but the United States, and I had a living survivor that was sharing her personal story with me. Wow! The gravity and appreciation of that moment is a memory that I will take with me for the rest of my life.

Eventually justice was served but it wasn’t until 14 years later until the first person was brought to justice. On September 26, 1977 Robert Chambliss a 73 year old retired auto mechanic and former Klu Klux Klan member was indicted by a grand jury on four counts of first degree murder.

What was interesting was that on the second day of the trial Chambliss’s niece testified that before the bombing that her uncle had confided to her that he had enough stuff put away to flatten half of Birmingham. Shortly after his trial began he was found guilty and convicted and sentenced to life in prison. 8 years later in 1985 he died in prison. 1994 a man named Herman Frank Cash died before being charged.

In 1997 34 years after the bombing, the FBI reopens the case citing new evidence. In 2000 a grand jury in Alabama indicts former Klansmen Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas Blanton with eight counts each of first degree murder. Four with intentional murder and four of universal malice.

In 2001, Thomas Blanton was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to 4 life sentences and in 2002, Bobby Frank Cherry was found guilty and sentenced to four life terms. Cherry later died two years later in 2004.

In 2006 the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was declared a national landmark, and 50 years after the bombing in 2013, the four girls that died were awarded Congressional Gold Medals.

What ever happened to Thomas Blanton you ask? Well in August of 2016 was denied parole at the age of 86. He had asked the Alabama Board of Pardons and Parole to let him die as a free man but was denied. He will not be eligible for parole again until 2021.

A tragic story but in the end the four little girls and the people who survived the bombing that day including Dr. Mikinstry were able to get some justice. As I mentioned earlier Dr. Mikinstry continues her fight to educate people and fight for equality because the journey is not finished.........

Let the journey continue!

[tennisinmybloodsoulchild]

Day 4 - Justice does prevail!

Everyday I think was the toughest day I’ve had on this pilgrimage until I get to the next day, only to say that today was the toughest. Today started like most as we prepared to set out today. Yesterday I wrote about Bob Zellner and how I learned about his life’s work in the civil rights struggle.

I mentioned how I had read an article about him in which I learned that in his first demonstration back in the early 60’s he had been captured by the Klu Klux Klan and beaten and threatened to be hanged. I was so intrigued by this story that I needed to find out from him how he was able to get away with his life.

This morning I shared with him the article I read about him and he quickly told me the date and circumstance around this day as he remembered it with great detail. He confirmed that he had been beaten and that he was almost hanged that day. I asked him how he managed to escape with his life and he said that the Klan turned him over to an angry mob and they took him outside and showed him a noose and told him that they were going to hang him right there. He said that as the Klansmen were beating him someone kept yelling “that’s Zellner” one of the klansment yelled back what are you calling this son of a b#$ch?

He said that’s Zellner. His daddy is one of us. He’s Klan. To which the other man said we need to turn him over to someone else then. We can’t do anything with him here, so they transferred him to a nearby town and put him in jail. He said that the FBI came and got him out of jail and he said to them that was pretty hairy. I didn’t think I was going to make it out of there. The two FBI men said yes it was pretty hairy. We were there watching taking notes. Bob said to me that those very FBI men were watching him being beaten and most likely would have watched him be hanged and they were documenting the information but most likely would not have stopped the lynching. I found that incredible to know that this was happening to someone and it was only being watched by the FBI.

I had to get closure to what I had been able to read the night before so it was imperative that I ask Bob this morning to share more information with me.

As Bob finished telling me this story we walked down the block to the Equal Justice Initiative building. The Equal Justice Initiative is a non profit organization based in Montgomery, Alabama that provides legal representation to prisoners who may have been wrongly convicted of crimes, poor prisoners without effective representation, and others who may have been denied a fair trial. It guarantees the defense of anyone in Alabama in a death penalty case.

As we walked through the halls of this building we saw many different pictures that portrayed various people and instances from the civil rights struggle.

As we continued walking through the halls and into the room where we were going to be we came across a wall of information and jars. What that represented was both profound and haunting.

Walking into a room of jars I thought what are these?! These jars represent the soil from areas where there were recorded lynches. As you can see the jars have the names of African Americans and the location of where they were lynched and the date of those lynchings. As you can see there is a wall full of them. It was pretty daunting to see so many jars, many with names on them and some with unknown on them because the individual was not known. Lynching is not something that gets talked about a lot in American history. Most likely because there is a lot of fragility when it comes to the reality that this was a very constant hanus thing that happened in our country, particularly in the South. It is hard to truly know the exact number of lynches that happened. There are accounts of as many as 4000 to 5000 lynchings during a period in the mid to late 1800’s to the mid 1900’s.

This year the Equal Justice Initiative will open the first memorial in the United States dedicated to the acknowledgement of the thousands of African Americans that were lynched in this country in Montgomery, Alabama. We had an opportunity to look at a video of what that would look like.

After this we were able to continue to see some other videos and were introduced to the story of Anthony Hinton.

Anthony Hinton is an African American male born in 1957 who was held on death row for nearly 30 years after being convicted of the murders of two restaurant managers in Birmingham, Alabama on February 25, and July 2, 1985. While awaiting trial his defense attorney told him “All of y’all Blacks always say you didn’t do something. He was later released in 2015 after winning a new trial.

I had not heard about his story. What was fascinating about his story was that Mr. Hinton’s photo was pulled out of a photo lineup, and the police investigated him. Their only evidence at trial was a statement that ballistic test showed crime scene bullets matched his mother’s gun. There were no fingerprints or eyewitness testimony. Hinton was convicted of the two murders and sentenced to death.

Hinton’s appeals were handled and worked on by the Equal Justice Initiative for 16 years. Their analysis and appeals showed that the bullets did not match Hinton’s mother’s gun, but they were unable to persuade the state of Alabama to grant him a new trial. In 2014 Mr. Hinton’s appeal reached the U.S. Supreme Court in which they ruled that his attorney was “constitutionally deficient” and his case should be retried.

Unbenounced to us we were told that Mr. Hinton was going to come in and share his story with us personally. Through the doors he walked and you could have cut the emotion at that time in the room with a knife. I think we all were amazed that this individual would be personally talking to us. What was most interesting is that Mr. Hinton shared with us that he had been arrested by the two officers in the pictures above and on multiple occasions asked what he was being arrested for.

He was never told and he said after asking them for what seemed like 50 times he was finally told what he was being arrested for. Once he heard the charges he told the officers that was impossible because he did not do those things. The response he received that he quoted to us was “I don’t really care if you did it or not, but we plan to convict you”. He explained that there were multiple times he kept saying I did not do this and if you say this happened on the dates you say I was working and you can verify that with my boss. Mr. Hinton said the officers said again that you must be hard of hearing, I don’t care if you did it or not.

The one thing he said that struck me was that the officer said to him you will most likely have a white judge, a white prosecutor, a jury comprised of probably all white people, and most likely a white attorney. He then asked Mr. Hinton if he knew what that meant..........conviction, conviction, conviction, conviction.

To give you some context, Alabama is the reddest of states politically. Under Alabama law, inmates under sentence of death have no right to counsel in postconviction. This means that a person on death row has no right to a public defender and if that individual does not have sufficient funds or someone willing to represent that individual in most cases they have no legal representation. Of the 41 judicial circuits in Alabama, just six have public defenders and not all represent capital defendants.

Going back to Mr. Hinton’s original trial, he explained to us that the judge that arraigned him chose his lawyer and told him that he wanted that attorney to represent Mr. Hinton. His attorney had wrongly thought he had only $1000 available to hire a ballistics expert to rebut the state’s case on evidence. The only expert willing to testify at that price was a one-eyed civil engineer with little ballistic training, who admitted he had trouble operating the microscope. You can imagine this did not bode well for Mr. Hinton, and he was sentenced to death and placed on death row. This supported that his attorney was constitutionally deficient as the Supreme Court later determined.

For 30 years Mr. Hinton sat on death row. He explained to us that he attempted to get 17 judges in Alabama to review the ballistic records which would have only taken roughly an hour but all 17 judges refused saying that it would be a waste of time for the courts. This was ultimately why the trial was taken on by the Suprem Court who immediately decided that the facts did not support his conviction and sent it back to the courts for a re-trial.

It was only then that the same ballistic expert that testified for the prosecution and convicted Mr. Hinton came back and said that he was unable to support that the bullets matched his mother’s gun. This was the same person that reviewed the same information 30 years before. As we watched Mr. Hinton tell his story, we saw the toll it had taken on him over the years and how even to this day, he has still not received an apology from the state of Alabama.

By this time the entire room was pretty much in tears as we were all struggling to understand how this could happen in the land of the free. As he finished his story we all stood and applauded him. In our question and answer portion, I asked if there were other organizations like Equal Justice Initiative across the country or if they partnered with other organiztions across the country for people that wanted to get involved.

This was only our first stop if you can believe it! We continued our journey which encompassed a lot of other things, but as I shared yesterday I have to decide what to share as so much of our days are packed and usually start early and end late.

One thing I will say is I had an opportunity to learn more about the Montgomery Bus Boycott and saw the actual location where Rosa Parks boarded the bus that fueled the story that many of us know today.

It was interesting seeing exactly where she worked and where she waited to board the bus in which she refused to give up her seat.

As always the day ends with dinner, and tonight was no different. I got to meet a beautiful soul of a woman. Her name was Jeannie Gratz, wife of Rev. Robert Gratz.

Ms. Graetz would normally be there with her husband but she has been caring for him as he is currently sick. Rev. Robert Graetz and Jeannie Graetz played important roles in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. They were a white couple that were pastors over a church with a black congregation. During the Montgomery Bus Boycott, they supported blacks and helped transport them during the 60’s. Ms. Graetz explained how her and her husband lived a few doors down from Rosa Parks and knew her well. Her husband knew and met Dr. Martin Luther King as well. She explained that because her and her husband were friends to many blacks they received numerous threats from the Klu Klux Klan. She shared how they often times received threatening calls as well as threatening letters. She even went on to say that they bombed their house on two occasions, but her husband and her were undeterred. They continued to lead the charge and fight in Montgomery even under the face of adversity.

What was most impressive about this short in stature woman is her love for her husband. She brought to dinner a wooden stand with his picture because after 67 years of marriage she talked about how they were a team and as she talked about him and grabbed the picture, you could see and empathize with the pain she was feeling that he could not be there tonight with her and that was such a special thing to see.

She also shared that she had always wanted to get her degree but because they had seven children and the work they had done most of their life it seemed impossible. She explained that in 2015 just three years ago she successfully completed her degree in early childhood education at the University of Alabama graduating Magna Cum Laude. To say I was impressed was an understatement.

I asked her if I could take a picture with her because I was so inspired by her story!

Tomorrow we leave Montgomery and head to Birmingham, Alabama.

Still rolling!

[tennisinmybloodsoulchild]

Day 3 - Sweet Home Alabama

As most days, this day started out with everyone getting on the bus ready for yet another long eventful day. We were leaving New Orleans on our way to Alabama. I will preface this and say that overall today was not as emotional as yesterday. I jokingly told someone today that I know that we all probably lost some water weight from all the crying we did yesterday, so we definitely had some extra room to consume yet another amazing meal today.

First stop in Alabama was going to be Mobile. While on our way we had an opportunity to hear from one of the freedom riders that was a part of our group. These are individuals that join the bus ride with us and in many cases have a personal connection to the civil rights journey. We heard from a gentleman named Bob Zellner.

Bob has spent over 50 years of his life fighting for the poor in Mississippi, Alabama and states across the south and fighting for equality for black. He is the son and grandson of Klu Klux Klan members and ministers and has a fascinating story. He shared how he was a descendant of very prominent Klansmen but that was never going to be his journey because of what he believed. He talked about the struggle growing up of having his father’s side of the family pretty much all Klansment and his mother’s side of the family being strongly opposed.

He described himself as probably their biggest disappointment.

He also shared a personal story about how growing up his father after a trip to Europe realized that being a Klansmen and his hatred or views towards blacks was not right, and has he returned home and tried to renounce his klansmen affiliation, his entire family ceased all communication and contact with his father from that day forward, but that his father believed in what he was doing. This decision by his father is what inspired Bob to dedicate his life to the civil rights struggle.

As you can imagine his story was powerful and I just kept thinking that you never really know someone’s story. He described being arrested roughly about 18 times, the most recent being when he was 60 years old. He told a story about how he was standing with Native Americans on a reservation that developers were attempting to build on and this land that had originally belonged to Native Americans was vast but had been slowly seized and the remaining land was on sacred burial grounds of their ancestors. He was arrested while standing with them and at the age of 60 was beaten by the police and had a broken arm and jaw which he later sued the police and won.

I learned in an article that I read today online about him that in his very first demonstration early on in McComb, Mississippi he was captured by the Klu Klux Klan and severely beaten along with others and almost killed. The Klan turned him over to the angry mob and he was told that they were going to hang him outside and had prepared tied nooses. It’s amazing to think he was eventually let go. He has gone on to write a biography that I purchased today from him. I thought what an interesting story and to have the author with us to sign my book personally was a rare treat I couldn’t pass up.

He also shared a story about how when he was in college he and four other white students at his college wanted to do a study on race relations and that Dr. Martin Luther King was coming to Montgomery, Alabama and they wanted to interview him. The were told they couldn’t and discouraged from doing so. Not listening to the instructors and faculty at their college they chose to go anyway.

They went to the First Baptist Church which was where Dr King and other prominent people like Rosa Parks were there. Today I not only got to visit this church but we got to sing in the choir and perform for some of the members of the church.

What was interesting about this was during this period of time where Bob and the students were in the church to interview Dr. King, they were the only whites that sat in the back of the church. Bob said that Dr. King had informed them that after this meeting the State Police had informed them that they would be arresting the 5 white students. Bob said he quickly sprung into action and told Dr. King that he had to help them escape.

He said that Dr. King said well perhaps when we go out the front of the church the students could go out the back door and get away. Bob said that Dr. King asked Rosa Parks to take them out the back and somehow Ms. Parks figured him as the leader. He said as they were making their way to the back door, before they left Ms. Parks grabbed his arm and said to him Bob you can’t study the fight forever, at some point you have to get involved and do something. He said that moment was a pivitol moment that inspired him to do what he has for so many years now.

As we literally arrived at this church and had 5 minutes to prepare for our concert because we were late, I couldn’t help but realize the magnitude of the moment. This church has an immense history and story. I also was a bit terrified that we were going to be getting up singing on the stage in front of people.

You see the only place I sing is in my shower and in my shower or in my home with an audience of 1.........me :). I have to say that each time I kill it too lol!

I had so much fun! You see I grew up in Mississippi Southern Baptist and it reminded me of my early childhood days in church. If you’ve also been to a black church music and singing is just a part of what they do and they have fun doing it.

After the performance, we left the church and went to have dinner with the elders of the church. Once again we had a belly buster meal. One of the other pilgrims said she is going to have to do a cleanse after this is all said and done lol.

Cornbread, Collard Greens, Fried Chicken, Maccaroni and Cheese, String Beans, Rice, Roast, Broccali and Rice Casserole, Salad, oh and I can’t forget the sweet tea.

You talk about amazing! I’ll take two plates for $200 Alex!

Some of the elders spoke about their experiences and some of the pilgrims talked about their journey so far. It was a great moment of connecting and increasing our circle of friends.

All in all it was another full day and yet another amazing day! So much happens each day that I find it challenging to decide what to share, but I look forward to the end of the day when I can put into words what I was able to experience. I’m also glad I have this forum to share.

This journey is still going!

[tennisinmybloodsoulchild]

Day 2- Let’s get real!

To say that I’m a little raw after today I don’t think even begins to describe my day, and it’s hard even now to put into words what took place. Somehow I knew that today was going to be different but little did I know just how different.

The day started learning about the movement in New Orleans that has spread to many parts of the South and across the country. That movement is a movement to remove images that reflect admonishment for slavery or the opression of people of color like the confederate flag and things like statues built in the confederate era.

I didn’t know much about this movement until today. I learned via a gentileman that spoke to our group this morning about his fight to help eradicate these types of things particularly in New Orleans.

We started at the statue for Robert E Lee. If you don’t know Robert E Lee, he was an officer in the confederate army and was a symbol of resistance in the civil war. He commanded the Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War from 1862 until his surrender in 1865. He died in 1870 and shortly after in 1884 the statue in New Orleans was built.

It was really interesting to learn that Robert E Lee never visited New Orleans. In fact he never visited the state of Louisiana but yet his monument was given a considerable amount of realastate standing on a column that stood about 60 feet in height. In 2017 after a lot of swirling controversy, the statue of Robert E Lee was the last of 4 statues in New Orleans that the city decided to take down. Lee was the most popular or well known of the 4.

The next part of the journey took us to two major plantations in New Orleans. One that gave the perspective from the slave, while the other gave the perspective from the slave owner. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but as I was yet to experience, it was going to move me in a way that I couldn’t have imagined.

First stop was the Whitney Plantation. You can learn more by visiting www.whitneyplantation.com.

I can’t help but leave thinking I’ve never learned any of that in my history classes or seen any of what I experienced in any book that I ever read. There were many moving moments but a couple that really stood out to me. These moments were also captured in many different ways including through the words of actual slaves from the plantation that had been recorded. Needless to say my heart was heavy!

The moment that perhaps touched me the most was when we were able to go inside the “Big House” as the slaves referred to it. This was where the mister and the mistress lived. Our tour guide shared with us that many times the black children were malnourished because the “wet nannies” as they were referred to were required to breast feed the white babies first and because of that often times did not have milk for their own babies. It was unimaginable to me to think that a mother might have to watch her baby cry or be hungry because she had no milk for them because she had to feed the master’s baby or babies. To say that this hurt my heart and touched me in a profound way doesn’t even scratch the surface. I had a moment of emotion that was difficult to control because my heart was sad with that knowledge. To think that that black women was good enough to provide her milk to their babies but not good for really anything else at the expense of her own child not having enough to eat was disturbing to me on many levels.

This was the “Big House”. Slaves were only permitted to enter into the house from the back not the front.

The slaves quarters were considerably smaller sometimes housing up to 10 or more slaves in an area that is no bigger than a small room. The last moment that really touched me was when I learned about the Slave revolt that happened in New Orleans. Roughly about 200-300 slaves decided that they were going to fight for their freedom. They knew that they were either going to be successful or die as a result of the revolt. Many of these slaves ended of being captured or even killed. Those that were captured were jailed and put on trial. The were sentenced to death and beheaded. Their heads were placed on sticks and these sticks were placed at specific places along the Mississippi River or prominent escape routes that slaves used. All of the slaves in the area were required to go look at these heads to learn what would happen to them if they chose to run, fight back or revolt.

This picture is an artist rendition but based on true events. To walk into this space is hard to describe. There was a somber ness and pain I felt knowing how much life was lost. The knowledge of this impacted a few pilgrims in different ways including myself and it was challenging to say the least.

This plantation represented a lot of pain for many that stayed here. This is a story that many people never really get to know and it was troubling to think that what people learn in school is not even close to seeing the reality of what really happened.

As we left the Whitney plantation, I can’t say that I was looking forward to going to the San Francisco plantation. I certainly wasn’t looking forward to going somewhere where the experience was “romanticized” event in history.

Fast forward to the plantation and from the moment we got there, you knew it was different. The tour was very different focusing on the beauty of the plantation house and the history of the owners that included their wealth and the extravagant things in the home. Their was a moment when I literally thought I was in a dream. I contiplated if I just wanted to go back to the bus and forgo the remainder of the tour. It was hard to stomach something where the slaves were referred to as workers and servants, or where the tour guide told us that the slaves there were treated better than at other plantations and that Whitney portrays something that did not happen every day. I struggled to understand who’s perspective he was using to decide that the treatment was “better” and what did better look like.

It was still slavery and these individuals still did not have the ability to leave or make their own decisions and choices.

I say all that to say that when you take both plantation visits, I was raw by the end.

We were able to break bread together with the group at a place called Lil Dizzys Cafe, and I was reminded that there was a reason I was here and that I was here with others. It was to learn and to grow and to seek to understand a story that perhaps I thought I knew but I really didn’t.

As always the question I continue to ask myself is what will I do with this new information? I’m building a community with some great human beings and I’m changing for the better. I’ve had some life changing conversations with the people on this journey with me and I know that my life and experiences will be richer because of it. I am still excited even though today we got real, and I’m still excited to keep going.

Tomorrow we leave New Orleans headed to Mobile, Alabama for a short bit then on to Montgomery, Alabama.

Stay tuned.......

The journey continues!

[tennisinmybloodsoulchild]

Day 1- Ready or not here I come!

Beep Beep Beep.........Is it 3:30 AM already?!! That’s what time my day started. As I woke up I was excited to finally be starting my trip but I have to admit I also had a lot of trepidation and anxiety as I didn’t quite know what to expect.

As I arrived at the airport all of that subsided as I saw the other pilgrims. That’s what the other people on this journey with me are called. We were all excited to finally be taking the trip given that we had spent about 8 weeks preparing. This included a lot of reading of articles and books, looking at videos and movies as well as several weekly sessions to help us prepare for what was to come.

First stop was New Orleans! I could finally check the box that I was going to New Orleans and all I could think of was what was I going to eat! For some time people have been telling me “you’re going to love the food”!

We arrived in New Orleans and needed to swing by the hotel to pick up the other pilgrims that arrived in the city earlier. It was great to finally have everyone together! As the other got on the bus we all hugged and welcomed everyone, excited that we could now officially start.

We were off to our first stop which was a place called Studio BE. As our bus pulled up I couldn’t help but notice this life size picture of a little girl on the front of the building and knew I needed to get a picture.

By now I was starving and my breakfast bagel sandwich from earlier that morning had burned off. I was literally ready to bite my fingers off. Well not actually but that’s how hungry I felt. We walk in to a feast set up for us. Catfish, Read Beans and Rice, Chicken Wings, Salad, Peach Cobbler and Sweet Tea. Yum Yum Yum! I’ll take more please.

After dinner we had the pleasure of touring the studio which was a warehouse filled with original work by a very talented artist named Brandon “BMike” Odom. He is an amazing artist and has met and worked with a host of celebrities. Hearing his vision and seeing how he expresses his gift was really inspirational. Everything in the studio is either hand painted or spray painted by him personally.

The day couldn’t be complete without a visit to Cafe Du Monde. If you have never been there if you come to New Orleans you have to. If you have also never had a Beignet then you really don’t know what you are missing.

I have never tasted anything so good that I just wanted to eat until I literally busted open. This definitely requires a gym visit in the morning. That followed by a bike ride back to the hotel put an exclamation point to the day.

All that said my first time to New Orleans and my first day on the pilgrimage was most definitely memorable.

I’m exhausted as I write this at 1:27 AM CST, but I know today is just the beginning. Tomorrow will be a little more difficult as we will be visiting two plantations and mentally a bit more challenging and exhausting.

Excited to see what tomorrow holds!

The journey is just getting started!

[tennisinmybloodsoulchild]

What is Project Pilgrimage?

By definition a pilgrimage is a journey of moral significance undertaken in a spirit of collectivity and community.

Project Pilgrimage brings together interracial and inter generational groups of people to dive deep into the arc of the Black American freedom struggle, to study the movement for racial equality, to then take these lessons and act on them.

Twice a year they organize civil rights pilgrimages of intense personal, collective and national examination. This examination of movements of the past compel us in new ways to challenge the present, to break barriers of all kinds, and to seek to make lasting change. These pilgrimages hopefully teach individuals that the tools for change are in their own hands if we will work with greater collaboration, among greater diversity, and with the spirit of determination.

There are a couple of goals that seek to focus the pilgrimage experience.

To study the civil rights movement and arc of the African American freedom struggle by:

1. Building interracial and inter generational community.

2. Studying the systems of racial inequality and how they function.

3. Studying ordinary people who took and are taking extraordinary actions to change the system.

Over the next ten days I hope to share with you my personal journey on this pilgrimage, in which I hope to discover what’s my role in this all, and how I can help bridge the gap of understanding for the benefit of all.

I’m embarking on this journey with 38 others from across the state of Washington, and those that will join us along the way to help guide and teach us on this over the next ten days.

I’m looking forward to the growth and understanding I know will come with this journey, and I invite you to experience it with me.

Let the journey begin!!

[tennisinmybloodsoulchild]

As I prepare for my pilgrimage with Project Pilgrimage, I created this Tumblr page to capture that journey through words and pictures. My goal is to post throughout this ten day journey which begins this Friday. If you are interested in following my journey, I invite you to be a part of it with me and I look forward to sharing this journey of growth and learning!