Students Travel on Civil Rights Road BRIDGE Trip for First Hand Experience of America's Path Toward Equality

A group of students went on a Civil Rights Road Trip BRIDGE trip as part of our BRIDGE Program (Building Relationships in Diverse Global Environments) to explore the history of the Civil Rights movement. They traveled from Atlanta through Selma, Montgomery, Birmingham, and ended up in Memphis, visiting and studying iconic civil rights memorials and locations. 

Senior Divine Taniform shares his experience on the Civil Rights Road trip, "It was both a rewarding and transformative experience to learn about the great lengths to which Black people went and the sacrifices they made to achieve the rights they deserved. Of course, you learn about figures such as Rosa Parks and campaigns such as the Selma to Montgomery marches in the classroom—but to read and hear about these remarkable people and their stories in not only great detail but the places where they happened does them justice that a textbook never could. By attending the Civil Rights road trip, I have developed an even greater appreciation for the thousands of Black men and women who paved the path I and many others currently walk on." 

 

There first stop was the National Center for Civil Rights. They were also able to visit the following:

MLK Jr. National Historic Park Tour MLK's birthplace. See his tomb. Visit the Church where he was baptized.

The Legacy Museum 

City of St. Jude Parish

Brown Chapel AME Church The start of the Selma March and location of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,

Selma Bridge: Interpretive Center  Introduction to the movement. Walked across the bridge to visualize what the Bloody Sunday scene may have looked like.

Rosa Parks Museum The Bus Boycott triggered the start of the Civil Rights movement.

Civil Rights Memorial Self-Guided Walking Tour

Dexter Parsonage Saw MLK's living quarters and the church where MLK preached. 

Birmingham Civil Rights District Paid their respects at the site of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.

Kelly Ingram Park - Site of protest where you can see demonstrators' gathering points

Civil Rights Museum - Lorraine Hotel Ended the trip with a visit to the site of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.

 

Through walking in the steps of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and many more civil rights legends, our students became inspired by their experiences and understood the significance through their eyes.