In My Own Words: Jessica Bargate

I thought I knew what to expect on this trip. I had read through the itinerary, researched the Civil Rights movement, and whittled down my outfits and other items to the bare necessities (yes a flat-iron is a necessity). I was ready, I was set, and before I knew it, I was on my way to what would be one of the most interesting, exciting, fun, moving, and above all, inspiring experiences of my life.

On this trip I learned how people of different ages and background came together to change the course of history. These people faced incredible dangers, yet they stood fast to what they believed. Sometimes they marched, sometimes they sat, sometimes they spoke, sometimes they sang, and sometimes they didn’t say anything at all. Everything they did, they did it with the hope that one day change would come. They did it so they could sit where they wanted to sit, shop where they wanted to shop, eat where they wanted to eat and enjoy every right and privilege a white man enjoyed.

To hear the stories, some first-hand accounts, was incredible. It made me realize that no matter how old a person is or where he or she comes from, if he or she believes in something enough, it could become a reality. It also gave me a far greater appreciation for the preservation of historical sites. It is so, so important that we never, ever forget what happened and what those brave men and women fought for. I feel a responsibility to share with others, to encourage them to research and discover how African Americans finally got their rights.

So, as it turns out, I was wrong. Our little spring break trip wasn’t anything I had expected… it was far, far more!

In My Own Words: Katirose Flint

As far back as I can remember I have been interested in the history of slavery in our country, and how African-Americans lived their lives, similar to me and different than me. When I was younger I loved to read books about girls my age who grew up during the times when slavery dominated African-American lives all around the world, and even in our country. The stories fascinated me and I was always eager to learn more. As I got older this interest did not die out. I love learning about slavery and what our country was like before, during and after the Civil Rights Movement. Taking this trip following the Civil Rights Trail helped to bring everything that I have already learned about slavery and the rights of African-Americans into perspective. Not only did I learn about the diversity of the south, I also learned about the diversity of our campus and how everyone can get along despite the differences we may have. I have made some really great friends whom I would never have talked to just because we are a little different from each other. But because we did meet and spent a week together I have respect for them as individuals and fellow students of mine whom I pass everyday on campus. Coming back from this trip I feel like I have a better understanding as to what really happened during the movement. We were able to meet and talk to a few people such as Joanne Bland and Lonnie King who were both very active in the movement. Hearing their personal stories was so good because it made everything seem more realistic. And to walk and stand at the very same spot that such big events in history took place, such as Bloody Sunday, the Selma March and the place of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, was so moving. It truly made the movement come alive to me as I sit here so many years later after their great struggle.

In My Own Words: Ashley Martin

Our spring break trip down to Atlanta, Georgia and up through Memphis, Tennessee following the Civil Rights trail was an amazing experience that will stick with me forever. Not only was it educational, it was so much fun and definitely holds a high impact on my freshman year of college. As much as I did not like driving for so many hours and bumping around in the backseat for six days, I am glad I went on the trip.

Going on this trip really opened my eyes as to how much farther society can and needs to go. Yes, things are significantly better than they were at one point in our history, but there is so much more that can be improved on in our society. The day that we spent with Joanne was one of my favorite experiences on the trip. Walking around Selma with Joanne and listening to all her stories about the Civil Rights movement firsthand really made it come alive. It was not hard to be at ease with Joanne and be so in tuned to what she was telling us. Her stories were of triumph and heartbreak, yet she managed to make us laugh and have a good time. Joanne’s biggest theme was that we are not done changing the way society works; it is up to us to change society in the future, and it is up to us to raise our kids the right way. I will not forget walking around with Joanne with her telling us about “the hood” and what it was like to grow up there. She did not fail to warn us we were going through “the hood” and her words “if I wave, you wave and if I run, you best start running too” still makes me laugh today.

While walking with Joanne was one of my favorite experiences of the trip, the rest of the sites we visited and the things we learned are still of great importance. Everywhere we went and everything we read in the different museums were all significant parts of our spring break trip. It was neat to be right in front of the road they marched on and on the site of “Tent City” while it was eerie to be standing on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the location of “Bloody Sunday”. Having lunch with Lonnie King (which was amazing) was entertaining but informative. He really knew what he was talking about, and he was such a grandpa-like person that we wanted to take him home. The museums we visited were amazing and educational. While they were similar in the way that they focused on the Civil Rights movement, each museum had its own way of presenting the information and its own style. The Loraine Motel was a museum on the inside but the outside still had the appearance of the hotel and where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot (which was extremely uncanny to be standing there). I really enjoyed touring the museums and getting an in-depth sense for what the Civil Rights movement was about.

I learned so many new things from going on this trip and doing the research beforehand. While I knew the general knowledge of the Civil Rights movement and important people, I really did not know what happened in our history the way I do now. I also would not have learned what a serious prankster Travis can be, how obsessed Kristin Garnett is with Anderson Cooper or how far Tammy would go to protect her hair from getting wet. I had a lot of fun on the trip while learning so much. There are so many memories that I will not forget; I will always remember the stories that we heard and the knowledge I learned about one of the most important events in our nation’s history.

In My Own Words: Ciara Cheatum

At first I thought that this trip would be similar to others that I have taken in the past; busy and exciting and even a little boring at times. Overall it was one of my favorite spring breaks that I have taken during my college career. There were so many things to see and just not enough time to see them. The very last thing that I expected to do is to wish that we could stay longer, though I don’t think that my pants could handle another two days in the south. The individuals that we met on this trip have inspired me to be a better person, to stand up and fight for what I believe in.

In My Own Words: Amy Folkedahl

The Civil Rights trip for Woods Around the World was more than just a class and spring break trip. It was a chance to see the world through the eyes of someone else, to feel the history left on the Pettus Bridge in Selma. This trip was a reminder to me of the power that we have as citizens, as regular people, to change our lives and world around us. The day we spent in Selma was unbelievable; it becomes hard to describe how it felt to be there, to walk around the town. When our guide Joanne took us to the concrete that they gathered on before walking across the bridge that day, we all picked up a pebble. The rock I picked up Joanne told us it was to represent her sister who by the end of bloody Sunday had to receive 27 stitches in her wounds. Her sister walked with the group the next time they went across that bridge. Joanne told us to keep that pebble and when we feel like we are up against the world to take it out and look at it and remember what her sister and her people did when they faced the world. That it doesn’t take money or power to change the wrongs in our lives, it just takes heart and dedication.

That day in Selma was the highlight of the trip, I will never forget that day, and the beauty and people of Selma. Walking around Selma on a perfect day, it was hard to picture the violence that happened there. I believe that Selma’s old live oak cemetery reflects the town, it has a sad undercurrent, a history that you can never forget while you are there, just like the cemetery you always know you are surrounded by those who have gone from this world but the beauty of that place is overwhelming at times. It seems ironic that in Joanne’s favorite place in Selma is a rocking chair on a porch that looks out over the river and bridge that made Selma the place it is today. When Joanne sat down you could see that even after all the things she went through in Selma her love for the town and its people is so easily read on her face. She has spent her life fighting for a better place for future generations to live in. She sat us down at the end of the day and told us that we cannot change those who have come before us; they are already set in their ways. She made it clear to us that our job was to raise our children to be better than we are when it comes to how we treat our fellow man.

Joanne told us that our battle was not going to be marches and protests and getting beaten, it was to simply teach those younger than us. When she signed my copy of her stories she simply wrote “Teach. Read. Learn.” Three simple things that can change the problems we are now facing. The trip was awesome in the truest definition of that word. The trip was made that way not only because of the planning but of the amazing coincidences that occurred. After driving all day Saturday we all woke up and went to Ebenezer Baptist Church where we heard a sermon from Rev. Dr. Lowery. He spoke on where do we as a people go from here? He was not talking about events in the past; he was referring to the election and inauguration of President Obama. How we have reached a point in the journey to the Promised Land that MLK Jr. saw. After this trip I believe that Joanne’s simple words can get us there.

Teach. Read. Learn.

In My Own Words: Beth Outz

This trip was one of the most unique experiences I have ever had. The sights, the museums, and the memories of the stories told made this trip unforgettable and eye opening. There are not enough words that can explain how much I have learned from everything we did. The stories that we heard were heart-wrenching, unbelievable, and real and even though they only gave us a glimpse of what it was really like to live during those tough times, they provided us some insight into their hopes, dreams, and fears from the past and for the future.

The journey of the Civil Rights Trail and the goal to reach equality has inspired so many people, including me, to follow their dreams and fight for what they believe in – even if the path to achieve it is unknown and frightening. I believe that Martin Luther King Jr. said it best when he used his words to motivate people to fight for their rights, “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” I cannot imagine what our country would be like today if it was not for their courage and determination. This trip has inspired me to continue to fight for their dreams and pass on their stories of hope, strength and triumph to make the world a better place for everyone. Just as Joann Bland explained to us, it’s not always just the big steps that matter to get you to your goal, sometimes it’s all of the small ones that lead up to it that matter the most.

In My Own Words: Liz Cato

Liz in Selma, Alabama

The timing of our expedition was phenomenal, considering the recent election and the eerie coincidences we met along the way.  For instance, Joseph Lowry happened to be speaking at Ebenezer Church the day we attended the service, and it was, in fact, the church’s 123rd year anniversary.

The knowledge and feelings we attained from the trip could never be absorbed solely through reading books.  Being there – right where everything took place – was an inexplicable experience that I can only label as life-changing.  I feel exceptionally more educated on the movement and I hope to keep it alive as Joanne so movingly asked us to do.

In My Own Words: Jessica Tipton

Jessica in Selma, Alabama

The money I spent to go on this trip was probably the best investment I have made as a college student. I learned several valuable things while traveling the south and had a multitude of experiences that words cannot describe and that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Seeds of friendship and knowledge were planted throughout this trip from 6 o’clock in the morning on Saturday, March 14^th until now as I write this. This trip consisted of 7 people I never thought I would be friends with and had never talked to before. Now we are making plans for dinner, having small talks here and there and growing friendships and memories. Besides the obvious gain of friendships and fun stories, I have also gained some very meaningful knowledge about things that almost seem forgotten in our world today.

I am a social work major and recently in one of my senior level classes we were discussing what people refer to as Tent Cities in places like Los Angelos, Reno, and Seattle. We watched a recent documentary, Tent City, which defined such a place as “makeshift temporary shelters set up by people who simply have nowhere else to go” (Oprah.com). This saddened me and really made me think about the place our country is in today. I have not stopped thinking about these “tent cities” since that class so you can imagine my surprise when we made a little pit stop at none other than an African American “tent city” set up after African Americans won their right to vote. White Americans threw African Americans off their land in their anger and they were forced to set up “makeshift temporary shelters” because they had no where else to go. The site had a tent set up for people to look at that was similar to a tent that would have been used then. I felt the same sadness when I saw this tent and read about the conditions these people were forced to live in. It connected to my past experience with tent cities as well as giving me a new perspective on the Civil Rights Movement.

That experience is just one of many that took my breath away and made me stand in awe, unable to think of much else besides how unfair these people were treated. The people we interviewed, the sites we were blessed to see and the places we walked really just opened my eyes to an entire world that I thought I knew about. I did not know about it though. I knew only what a textbook and a few skewed images teachers allowed us to see in high school could show us. To walk the bridge where Bloody Sunday took place, or drive the 54 miles of the Selma to Montgomery march on March 7, 1965…to stand in the place where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated or to look across the street to the open window where James Earl Ray aimed and shot to take his life…to get the first hand stories from Lonnie King who was instrumental in the creation of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), or Joanne Bland, who was arrested 13 times by the time she was 11 years old…all of it was incredible and no one could put a price tag on this overall experience!

In My Own Words: Kristin Garnett

Kristin in Selma, Alabama

History is a powerful and amazing thing. Many times in my life I have heard the phrase “we can’t let history repeat itself.” Never did I believe that as much as when I heard that from the mouth of our Selma tour guide Joanne Bland. Given my age, I have never fought for civil rights like they did when they marched on Bloody Sunday. At just 13 years old Joanne was a strong girl and fought for what she knew to be right. Without the unsung heroes such as Joanne who participated in the nonviolent protests and took a stand, we would not have been able to travel the civil rights trail today.

I know that it is divine to believe in things unseen, however, being from the “show me state”, I like to see things first-hand. This trip has forever changed my worldview and historical perspective. I saw things that were shocking, horrible and completely inhumane. I also saw things and met people like Joanne and Lonnie King who were completely inspiring and still, many decades later, fighting to continue the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hearing their testimony to the trials and tribulations they endured empowered me to quit taking a backseat and start fighting for what I believe in the most.

Our country is in an amazing place right now, but we are also at what (at times) seems to be an impasse. Nothing can be achieved without hard work, and nothing can be achieved alone. We all must work together to attain our similar goals, which hopefully include helping our country to a more stable and prosperous time.

Through the words that I read, the people that I met and the historical sites that I visited I definitely learned that one person can make a difference; Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. being two great examples. Now, as an educated, inspired and empowered individual I have to be a freedom fighter, just in a different way. I have to educate others on what I have learned and actively participate in the betterment of our society through service to a cause. Now is the time to work together to create a positive change, I see that more than ever. Although we have had a rough past, it is the present moment which will define us as a nation. After all, if you don’t believe in your country, who will do it for you?

Missing Missouri

After 1,989 miles of driving, hundreds of songs from the iPod and countless thousands of southern-fried calories, we finally made it back to campus!  On the way out of Memphis we drove by Graceland, home to Elvis Presley, and then left the land of the delta blues bound for home.   We made one stop along the way, at Lambert’s Cafe in Sikeston, MO.  The ladies enjoyed catching throwed rolls flung from across the room.  Lambert’s Cafe is recognized as one of the ten great places in America to take an exit off the road for some good eatin’.  We all agreed.

Ashley and Liz pointing the way to Lambert's Cafe

We left on our trip in search of stories.  And we found them.  Stories of a people who struggled for freedom and equality.  Stories of a movement that shook up our nation and called us back to the lofty ideal of “liberty and justice for all”.   Stories of the many small gestures and daring acts which went into breaking the bonds of oppression and liberating the imagination to believe in a better tomorrow.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll add some final images and insights from Woods Around the World 2009: Following the Civil Rights Trail.