Today has been a wonderful start to the weekend of the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Being able to come down to not only Alabama, but to be able to visit historical sites such as Selma and Montgomery, it an overwhelming feeling of hope, empowerment and excitement for the activities to come.
The original plan was to come down to Alabama tomorrow morning, but I am so thankful we got the opportunity to arrive earlier. Upon arriving in Montgomery, Ebony (the Recorder’s marketing coordinator) and I had an entire afternoon and evening planned, but little did we know, our day’s activities would change.
We planned to take a guided trolley ride on the Montgomery Visitor Center’s “Dream Marches On” attraction, but to our surprise, the tours ended at 3 p.m. I found it interesting that although thousands of people will be in Selma, which is only an hour away, and surrounding cities for Bloody Sunday, the center hadn’t extended their hours. Actually I found this true for most local businesses.
We hit a similar road block when visiting the Rosa Parks Library and Museum in the downtown district. It also was closed, but for an odd reason. Hyundai was holding an event at the library, which I’m pretty sure was closed for a civil rights event, however it was not open to the public. At that point it seemed as if some people were truly losing the meaning of this weekend and instead chose to capitalize on it.
So although we couldn’t follow through with most of our plans, we still did find time to sightsee. While downtown Montgomery we visited the waterfront, the infamous bus stop where Rosa Parks refused to give up he seat, the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church as well as the Alabama State Capitol, which was my favorite part of the day.
Simply knowing this weekend I will be standing on the same pathways as many other civil rights activists, is an honor and quite emotional. Walking up the state capitol building and knowing that was the place where thousands of African-Americans stood and where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his address…wow. I truly have no words.
I found it very odd that the city wasn’t overloaded with tourist by our 3 p.m. arrival time. I expected lengthy traffic lines and hundreds of other people exploring the city since many hotels in Montgomery were booked for the weekend.
During our journey around Montgomery, we also visited Alabama State University (ASU) where we spotted the birthplaces of legendary musician Nat “King” Cole and civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy. Again, visiting sites like these helped me reflect on life in Indiana. I respect and praise institutions like ASU because they truly make the effort to preserve these historical sites for future generations. Indiana approaches things a bit differently when it comes to preserving African-American history.
I can’t wait for tomorrow where we will cover President Barak Obama’s remarks at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. It’s a wonderful feeling to be a part of history. It’s almost too much to digest.
Stay tuned!!
See our journey on video: HERE
