Montgomery

On Tuesday we arrived in Montgomery, AL and finally had nice weather. We decided to take advantage of this and walked around the city to the Southern Poverty Law Center. There we saw the Civil Rights Memorial which honors 40 martyrs of the Civil Rights struggle. Outside a black wall stands with the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream “. Additionally a disk has the names of the martyrs inscribed in chronological order along with other historic events and water stands on the top of the disk. It was a neat experience to run my hands through this water and see later inside the pictures of historic figures from the Civil Rights movement such as Rosa Parks standing in the same place. Before we left we were also able to sign the Wall of Tolerance which is a digital screen scrolling the names of all the individuals who have visited the memorial and pledged to take a stand against hate and injustice. Also in Montgomery we visited the state capital and met an adorable elderly man who gave us a tour of the building. Our last visit in the city was to the Rosa Parks Museum. The museum gave new insight into the famous incident which sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and also information on other factors affecting this Civil Rights landmark, such as the fact that a lawsuit by four other women, arrested prior to Rosa Parks was the legal end to bus segregation. I really enjoyed visiting Montgomery, the capital and big city for Alabama, even though it only has one skyscraper. It is a nice change of pace from northern cities and offered a wealth of knowledge on the Civil Rights movement in creative ways.

-Dena