What moved me the most during this trip was the museum we went to created by Bryan Stevenson. This opened my eyes to the oppression in America going way beyond slavery. Black people were oppressed mentally, physically, and emotionally. This oppression took many forms and last to this day. Through out the museum we see the evolution from being enslaved to segregated and dehumanized all the way to incarceration and how it was a systematic construct. A quotes that stuck with me were one from an Alabama governor who said “ segregation today, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever” this made me realize the dedication and mental force these oppressors had. These people wanted to find any way to keep African Americans down and to feel inferior. Another quote was about police officers planting drugs in black neighborhoods not only to get people addicted but to frame and arrest black people. These people wanted to send a statement that black people were inferior, property, nobodies. They didn’t allow black people  to use their bathrooms or to invest or receive loans from their banks as if we weren’t deserving. They wanted to mentally abuse us or “whip us” into shape literally, until we gave in to the image they have of us. They justified their actions behind religion as if that made everything they were doing ok. People were beaten lynched drowned shot to set an example to fill their fantasies calling it justice which isn’t right. However my people prevail. With everlasting effect’s. Lastly another quote that stuck with me was “ slavery didn’t end in 1865 it just evolved” I believe this statement is true and slavery isn’t just manual labor but brutality and oppression. - St.Matthew

The two things that have moved me most so far on this trip are watching Just Mercy and visiting the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Just Mercy tells the story of Bryan Stevenson, a young Black Harvard-educated lawyer who moves to Alabama to defend prisoners on death row, specifically Walter McMillan. It was the most emotionally moving movie I have ever seen, and I recommend that everyone watch it. As I think about future career paths, this movie reaffirmed for me how important it is to pursue a profession focused on helping fix a piece of our broken world—possibly through law.

Second, we visited the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, where we learned about the stories of many Black people who were lynched. One story that stood out to me in particular was that of a woman named Mary Turner, who was hung by her ankles and set on fire while eight months pregnant. She was killed for speaking out about the lynching of her husband the day before.

This trip has been full of grief, reckoning, and a harsh understanding of the violent history of America. I am excited to continue learning. - Aria 

Someone I have encountered and learned about is David Richmond, he was a member of the Greensboro 4 and he had a sad post life because he felt that he couldn’t do better or become better for his world and his ideals. He ended up staying in Greensboro while the other 3 went out of Greensboro to live their lives but do to the fact that he stayed in the same town which he rebelled, his reputation plummeted to the point that he became a Janitor at an elderly center. His life was filled with alcoholism at this point and ended up dying in December due to Lung Cancer. His life is interesting because even after he initiated the movement with the other 3 he still wanted to do better for the world but in the end he couldn’t. - Wilmer 

Something that moved me the most thought out the trip would be how African Americans were torched. A way they were torched would be by lynching. This was the unconstitutional act of execution cared out be racist people like the Ku Klux Klan. There were many different forms of this unrighteousness act which was public torture, hanging, burning, and mutilation. The crime lynching would fit in would be terrorism.  - Paul

One person that really stuck out to me was when we learned about Emmet Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley and her reactions to the brutal lynching and murder of her son. At the Legacy Museum, we learned about the difficult choice that she made to have an open casket funeral for her son, showing her decision to show the rest of the world what her son had been reduced to because of the hateful individuals that lynched him. We learned that Mamie Till didn’t take this decision lightly, it was difficult to see her child, the person she loves most in the world, reduced to barely a human, but she thought that it was more important to send the powerful message of the brutal reality of his murder than keeping Emmet’s image. Additionally, we learned about the influence the media had on the civil rights movement. In the case of Emmet Till, Mamie’s choice to have an open casket funeral, and send that important message to the people at the funeral was spread much farther to the rest of the nation because of the rise of media attention in events such as Emmet Till’s murder. I think that Mamie’s brave decision was really powerful to me because it shows how one can both grieve the loss of a loved one the inside while also choosing to put the movement as a whole above her grief and send that powerful message.  - Maria

The Legacy Museum: In this museum, I had the opportunity to experience multiple interactive exhibits. There were two that caught my attention. The first was a exhibit containing a wall of glass jars filled with soil. This was no average soil though. The soil collected is from the locations where the lynchings of African Americans took place. Each jar was labeled with the name of the individual lynched on those grounds. Howard Cooper, a 15 year old boy from Towson, Maryland, allegedly threw stones at a white woman and was later hung by a white mob after his release from jail. His mom was unable to recover his body till the next day, as her job would not allow her to leave. This information sparked thought surrounding my own life. I imagined what it would be like for my own mother to have recovered my body a day after the incident as such. I imagined the pain, the suffering, the tears filling her eyes, the tension in her chest. I can't imagine what that must've felt like for Howard's mother. It allowed me to reflect on my own life, but also the lives of other boys who look like me. It could've been me. It wasn't me, but it could've been me. - Paul

The sculpture garden was situated between the bank of the Alabama river and a busy train station. During the first part of the exhibit I walked into a reconstructed slave living quarters - the video playing detailed how slave labour had built the system of railroads and then how it was used to separate families and pump even more coal into the fire that was the 18th century domestic slave trade. The video flashed an image of a mother wailing and reaching out to her small child cramped into the tight ‘living’ quarters on the train. As I saw her reach out, the railroad track behind the sculpture garden began to roar. I was able to sense my proximity to it by the soft tremble of the floor boards. I had already read on another placard that the railroads running through Alabama then were the same railroads that ran through the state now. This was especially impactful because it was direct example of how the very backbone of how the United States works was built by, and simultaneously against African Americans. When walking out, the bus had driven past the railroad tracks and I walked past them. Their physicality made an impression on me. - Ada

I had a lovely time learning new things during this trip so far, however there was 1 thing in particular that touched my spirit which not only brought me to tears but made me so very grateful for my life letting me see just how privileged I am. During my time in the legacy museum we got to the point in the museum where the millions of lynchings were being displayed and talked about heavily, I got a chance to read about just how disgusting these lynch mobs were one story that turned my stomach was about Ms Mary Turner, Mary was 8 months pregnant in 1918 and decided to protest for her husband unlawful murder and lynching. Mary was then captured, mutilated, burned, and shot to death until she miscarried her innocent child to which the mob battered to death when the child fell out of her womb. This story was absolutely vile yet it touched my heart so deeply because even the littlest things could get you tortured as a black American during this time. After I read this story I was able to read the testimony of those who watched the mobbing, who seen how badly my people screamed and pleaded to not be hurt because they had no bad intentions and were completely innocent . I will never forget to let my peoples name live on because their loss will never ever be forgotten as long as i live. - Jabelle 

I think what moved me the most was reading and seeing all of the victims of lynchings. The amount of names I saw was powerful, and thinking about all those that were never identified impacted me as well. listening to the reasons (or lack thereof) for these despicable acts really landed with me. This was because there were so many African Americans that were falsely accused, or standing up for their constitutional rights, and by no means deserved to be lynched. The reasons for these acts was not only fueled by intense hatred, but were a way of imbedding fear into the African American community, which worked. One example of this is with Jack Turner, an African American man in Choctaw, Alabama. Jack Turner was lynched for encouraging black people to assert their constitutional right, and vote. This was meant to strike fear in the eyes of black people, and deter them away from voting, suppressing their voice. Acts like this occurred all around the south, and instilled fear in African American communities. Seeing an example of this in person, and learning about it among other cases similar to this one was powerful, and impacted me greatly. - Jude

While meeting with Ambassador Andrew Young, something he said that stood out to me was, “Whenever I find something that needs doing, and nobody wants to do it, I’ll try.” This resonated with me because I often see people ignore problems just because it’s easier to do nothing. I understand that it can feel more convenient to stand by when an issue doesn’t directly affect you rather than going out of your way to support someone else. However, I believe it’s important to step in when something needs to be done, even if it’s difficult or doesn’t impact you personally. When people choose to do nothing, it only makes it harder for the next person to stand up and try to make things right. Because of this, I always want to be someone who steps forward when something needs to be done instead of waiting for someone else to act. - Josie

Something that really stood out to me was when Ambassador Young said it was spiritual power he wanted to give the president. It made me think about the roots of the movement, and how religion and spirituality are a huge anchor in how these people united against the unjust. I would not say I am a particularly religious person, but after Ambassador Young said this (and we all sang with him), I wondered if it would benefit me to start praying every now and then, when things go quiet in the world. Being faithful to a religion is being a part of something special, a part of a huge community, and a part of a united force. This made me think about how much church hym and gospel bring people together, all through song, creating the spiritual power they used throughout the entire movement. - Georgia 

I think many elements of the Civil Rights Movement translate to modern society. For example, in many of the museums and memorials we’ve visited the “reasoning” for lynching black men had a central theme. Most often, black men were accused of assaulting or acting inappropriately towards white women. Not only were these accusations often untrue, it cemented in the societal mindset that Black men are dangerous, hyper sexual and inferior to Whites. Even now these ideologies persist and Black men are viewed with the same scrutiny. These views even go beyond perception and continue to capital punishment. It was striking to learn that 1 in 3 black men will have an encounter with police in their lifetime. This outcome is a direct result of the racist views developed during the Civil Rights Movement. - Zoe 

I felt really emotional when Andrew Young was talking to us about politics because he is 94 years old still having to speak up about what is currently happening in the world. It’s really upsetting that people from different generations, like Andrew Young, are still having to fight for what is right, like there had been no change since they were fighting for rights to present day. This experience with Andrew Young and actually seeing someone that has made a difference history, has given me a new found appreciation for people like him that have fought for and spoken up about equality, peace, justice and freedom for all. This whole experience has just made me think to myself what can I do as a young person that doesn’t know where to start and how can I make a difference? - Brooke

Something that really stuck out to me when speaking to Andrew Young was his phrase “get smart not mad.” This meant a lot to me because it takes a lot to exhibit that kind of self control and to live by it is incredibly impressive. Also, it was really moving to me hearing him talking about current events and his opinion on the state of our country. For him to be fully educated on the new generations issues while also having lived and fought for his own generation and the generations to come is very powerful. Knowing the historical events he went through and lead while also seeing him experience the new events really meant something to me and also saddened me because it feels like we’re not living up to his legacy and not representing his life’s legacy well enough. Overall, talking to him was a once in a lifetime opportunity and incredibly inspiring. - Mae

Meeting and talking with Andrew Young was very surreal for me. To be honest this experience brought up a lot of emotions for me. Everything that Andrew Young spoke to us about was very moving and inspiring. However there was one specific moment that stuck out to me. He said “If you’re not worried right now something is wrong with you, this country is in trouble.” This really spoke to me because I think a lot of people don’t feel the need to watch or pay attention to the news because they think that what’s going on in the world doesn’t directly affect them. I think when he said this it was a wake up call to a lot of people. We need to take action and  advocate for something that we believe in. - Sophia 

Something from Ambassador Andrew Young that stood out to me was the quote that a little light in the darkness can be seen from a very big distance. This struck very hard because I have seen little lights from very far in my life, a person who comes up and does something nice when I'm not feeling great, a small complement, each little light lifts me up, much more than its shiner would expect. - Ethan 

Yes, I saw a connection especially today at the national center for civil and human rights. During my time at the museum, the worker was being selective with whom he allowed to do certain stuff and when we wanted to go to a shoe collection, he immediately asked us if we knew our human rights and asked us to name them. however, when people of a different color came to the same shoe collection, they were welcomed with no questions asked. I feel as though this is a prime example of how white colored people had more privileged than black colored people, even though it was a black person that performed this activity and it shows us how slavery is still happening today and ways we don’t realize it or acknowledge it. - Vera

Looking at current events and civil rights, there are many connections and reoccurring events, like political injustice, mass incarcerations, etc.

These current events are the injustices that they fought for in the civil rights movement. - Jordan

Yes I do see a connection between civil rights and current events, specifically about how people all over the African diaspora are still fighting for freedom. During the civil rights movement they were fighting for equal rights, and many white peoples of the era viewed black people as less than. Presently there are still many negative ideas people hold about black peoples. Black men are depicted as criminals, black women are depicted as loud, black children depicted as troublesome. During the civil rights movement houses and neighborhoods where black people could live was limited because of laws set in place by redlining. The effects of redlining today still have a lasting effect on the health and wellbeing of black peoples. For example in Baltimore, historically black neighborhoods built by redlining, suffer higher rates of asthma, hypertension, diabetes, and developmental disabilities. Civil rights history still affects us today. - Ohemaa

Something that Andrew Young said that resonated with me is when he said “ at times when things seem dark, a little light can go a long long way” this resonated with me because a lot of people who are in a dark place and everyone needs their light no matter how little or how great it is everyone needs their light. - Caleb