Monday, June 8, 2020

Florida - State and Local Civil Rights History


St. Augustine

Hotel Manager James Brock pouring muriatic acid into the hotel pool

This photo shows what happened on June 18, 1964 at the Monson Motor Lodge in St. Augustine, Florida.  It was just one of many protests in this northern Florida city that summer. (AP Photo)

A Hilton hotel stands in the location of the old Monson Motor Lodge. Although the pool is long gone, there is a historical marker where it once existed.


Jacksonville




Winter Park



Orlando













Thursday, October 11, 2018

Montgomery and Selma, Alabama

At this point in my sabbatical, I've traveled to one international destination (Japan), five U.S. states, visited 16 cities, several important museums and many sites that have a crucial (for some, even sacred) value in the struggle for human and civil rights. I sincerely appreciate everyone who has read my travel blog and given me praise and/or constructive feedback so far.

Now on to Montgomery and Selma, Alabama.

I'm continually fascinated by the unique events that finally inspire change but I also realize such pivotal moments, like Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat, might have never happened without the many struggles for justice and equality leading up to it. Mrs. Parks was not alone in her actions. Many other people disobeyed the unjust busing laws in Montgomery and other places, like Pauli Murray, Mary Louise Smith and Claudette Colvin, or defied racism in their own way. Their bravery is just as important to the history of civil rights.



In the context of civil rights history, I imagine most people think of the 1955 Bus Boycott when Montgomery, Alabama is mentioned. Starting with the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955, black residents of this central Alabama city boycotted the city's segregated bus system until December 1956, after a Federal District court and then the U.S. Supreme court ruled the state and city segregation laws unconstitutional.

Take a moment to look at this Google Map image of downtown Montgomery.


The Rosa Parks Museum, run by Troy University, is located on the spot where Mrs. Parks was arrested (image below). This interactive museum stands on the site of the old Empire Theater. One of the museum workers told me she was extremely sad to see the theater torn down. She said it would have been nice to at least have kept the outside of the building intact and renovated the inside for the museum.


The spot where Mrs. Parks got on the bus (images below) is a few blocks away, on Dexter Avenue, which runs through downtown Montgomery to the Alabama State Capitol building.



The bus stop marker is located under the trees, to the right of Court Square fountain, another historical location from Montgomery's troubled past.



As you look east on Dexter Ave., past the Rosa Parks bus stop and fountain (images above), you see the Alabama State Capitol building. Just before you reach the Capitol, on the right (or south side of the street), you will find the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (image below), where King preached and held meetings to discuss the bus boycott.


Just past the Capitol, also on the south side, is the First White House of the Confederacy


I admit, I had no idea this house was in Montgomery until one of the workers at the Rosa Parks museum mentioned it as a place to see while I was in town. I'd only known about the Confederate White House in Richmond, VA up to this point so I was very surprised to find out about this other historic location. I talked with Dr. Bob Weiland, Curator and Supervisor, and Receptionist Evelyn England about why the Confederacy moved their Capital to Richmond after only a few months. I was told about a few reasons but the biggest one was it was too hot in Montgomery. 

The house is filled with portraits of Jefferson Davis and his family, along with their personal items and objects used by some famous Confederate Generals. 


After my visit to the Confederate White House, I walked to the nearby Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) building to see their museum exhibits and the Civil Rights Memorial designed by Maya Lin. Located on the front side of the building, the memorial honors the martyrs of this monumental struggle. Once I finished with the exhibits, I struck up a conversation with two staff members about several issues, including going to Selma. They told me not to make the short forty-five minute drive because they had recently read a few stories about the city being a bit dangerous for tourists. While I certainly respected their warnings, I decided to go to Selma anyway and had no problems at all. In fact, NPS Ranger April Baldwin, who works at the Selma Interpretive History Center, was surprised to hear this and assured me there are no problems with tourists being hassled or put in danger while in Selma. 


Selma holds an incredibly special place in our civil rights history. However, just as I said above, there is usually a preceding story of struggle. The February 18, 1965 murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson during a peaceful voting rights protest in Marion, Alabama, is considered the inspiration for the later marches from Selma to Montgomery. As he tried to protect his mother from police brutality, he was shot by another officer who thought Jimmie Lee was armed. In response, a protest for voting rights was organized in early March 1965, led by John Lewis and the Rev. Hosea Williams. The nonviolent march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge was met with deadly force in what became known as "Bloody Sunday". Here's a Los Angeles Times video story on the first march as well as a short film about the march made in 1965 by the filmmaker Stefan Sharff. 




I felt a strange but meaningful connection between what I saw in Montgomery and Selma and my experience at Dr. King's birth home in Atlanta. (Reminder - I was asked by a black woman why, as a white man, I thought it was important to visit King's house). I had asked Dr. Weiland about the diversity of visitors to the Confederate White House. His gracious first answer covered the various nationalities that visit the house but when further pressed about a different kind of diversity, namely black visitors, he told me they are only about 5% of the annual visitor traffic. Why would any black person visit this monument to the Confederacy? Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to ask anyone in the house because the only other visitors present were a white family. 

During my conversation with the two SPLC staff members, we also talked about the Confederate White House, who visits it and why. These two women, who happen to be black, stated they would never set foot in the Confederate White House because of what it stands for and how, from their perspective, it ignores the brutal history of slavery and segregation. For his part, Dr. Weiland told me he is always ready to engage visitors in conversation about these topics.

Maybe the answer to this question is that obvious and I didn't need to hear it from a black visitor while they were with me in the house. However, I paused and took the time to work past my initial answer/reaction to consider the deeper set of complexities and hard realities calling for my thoughtful attention. What those complexities and hard realities are is up to all of us to figure out. Start with putting yourself in spaces where you are challenged to think differently and deeper about everything you think you know. 

For example...The Alabama State Capitol grounds have a few Confederate reminders, mostly memorials and statues of individuals like Jefferson Davis and Dr. James Marion Sims. However, neither the Capitol grounds nor the link above provide the reader with a more complete history for either person. Compare the information in the above link with another perspective on Dr. Sims and then maybe consider why this particular person's history has been told from these different perspectives. 

In many places throughout this country, stories about our racial history have been told from a very selective, dominant perspective. For example, I often hear the assertion that the Confederate flag and interrelated Civil War memorials are part of our history and must be allowed to have their own space. I agree, such things are part of our history but therein lies the problem - it is an incomplete history.  One side of the story has dominated many of our public spaces. I was told by NPS Ranger April Baldwin that because only one side of the story has been told, places like Montgomery and Selma are still highly divided cities, the difference being laws no longer enforce it. 

Most thoughtful people understand that trying to navigate the complexities and hard realities of our history is arduous and brings with it lots of conflict. How do we get to a place and time where the whole history can be told? The weight of shame, blame and guilt surrounding this history seems at times unmovable but with serious effort, perhaps it can be managed and healed. I'm reminded of my experience in Sumner, Mississippi, and the story of the man who wanted to rip out the Emmett Till court trial historic marker, saying we need to stop bringing up that part of our history, all while being just steps away from yet another Civil War memorial. He was able to figure out an answer. This complex history sits patiently in the middle of our divisions, waiting and relying on thoughtful people to create common ground solutions. 

These experiences and conversations brought to mind the MLK Memorial in Washington D.C., the symbolism of how it is physically positioned and of the quote written on it, "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope". The center portion, with the grand sculpture of MLK, has been moved forward and pushed to the side by a mighty force - millions of determined people who worked to help our country live up to its founding documents. The mountain of racism wasn't completely ended, but a "stone of hope" was created, giving more people the opportunity for equity and justice. 

The image below may illustrate what I mean. From time to time I work in D.C. as a licensed tour guide. My groups are all school-aged students. After telling them about this history, I encourage them to stand shoulder to shoulder, link arms or hold hands and walk through the memorial, all while remembering and being mindful of those who cleared the path for all of us to do so. Here you can see a few kids from one of my groups walking hand in hand through the memorial.

 

And now I'm ready to be challenged on everything I just wrote. Over the years, I've learned how to stay with the discomfort that comes from being shortsighted in my observations or just plain wrong on a topic. As a result, I'm also willing to adjust, and to rethink everything above, hopefully with people who are even more educated. I'm more interested in being well informed and ready to act in ways that help myself and others through these complexities and hard realities. 


Thursday, October 4, 2018

Birmingham, Alabama

My Saturday morning train ride from Atlanta to Birmingham trekked through quiet small towns and calming fog covered forests. It was a lovely way to travel a week after celebrating my 50th birthday with my wonderful family and friends. 


After a restful four-hour train ride, we slowly pulled into the downtown Birmingham area. I was caught off guard by the oddly picturesque smoke stacks and other features of the Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark.

 

Birmingham, Alabama is probably the most friendly city I've been to during my sabbatical travels. Hopefully you can pick up on the underlying message - that the other cities are also full of friendly people, but I give the top spot to the "Magic City". Birmingham got this name because of its incredible growth at the turn of the last century, magically rising from the already existing small towns and modest mountain landscape. The city's claim to fame stems mostly from its iron and steel industry, making it known as the "Pittsburgh of the South". The city's industrial history is symbolized by a rather unique statue of Vulcan, the Roman name for the God of fire and the forge, considered the largest cast iron statue in the world. 

Downtown Birmingham Mural


One of the more sacred sites of the civil rights movement, Kelly Ingram Park, is in downtown Birmingham. Originally called West Park and across the street from the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, it is most known by the public through powerful images of school-aged protesters being blasted by Eugene "Bull" Connor's powerful water canons and attacked by his police dogs in May 1963. The protests were guided by the work of Rev. James Bevel, a highly influential leader (and later controversial figure) of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as well as the civil rights movement. These young protesters were also attacked in front of nearby businesses like the Magic City Barber Shop, which is still exists on 4th Street, just two blocks southeast of the park (under the far left red awning).


Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, as seen from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute


I spent part of this late September Sunday afternoon learning about this iconic park with two local historians, Frederick Dwayne Smith and Jermaine Grimmett. Frederick told me his Grandfather, the Rev. Nelson H. Smith, along with A.D. King and John T. Porter, led marchers through Birmingham to protest the arrests of Rev. Fred Shuttleworth, Ralph Abernathy and Dr. King. It was during this time that Dr. King wrote his landmark letter to a group of white clergy who were questioning King's strategy of nonviolent direct action. 

These two kind and extremely knowledgeable gentlemen helped me better understand what happened in this park. For example, they told me the brick path design you see in the picture below symbolizes the unity of all people. I didn't find any marker explaining this feature so I wouldn't have know this is if weren't for Frederick and Jermaine.

Brick path through Kelly Ingram Park


The park has several jarring sculptures, all stark reminders of the violent manner in which the protesters were treated.



If you are looking for a book on what happened in Birmingham during the civil rights movement, I recommend Why We Can't Wait by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He expertly describes the challenges of segregation in Birmingham, who was involved and provides a powerful explanation of why he believed in and used nonviolent methods. Written and published during the years 1963 and 1964, the title reminds me of the event that took place in 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation.


Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Before I get into my travel stories, I'd like to share with you all the birth of my family's newest member - my Grand Niece Savannah Grace, born to my niece Avery and her boyfriend Hunter, on Tuesday October 2, 2018 at 7:44 am


Now on to my travels...

What you see in the two pictures below is part of an exhibit at The King Center in Atlanta, GA



As you look through the marchers, the window and across the street, you can hopefully see a grey block just above the hedges - the Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King grave site:



Here's why I mention this exhibit - One of the greatest resources I've used during my travels is the U.S Civil Rights Trail website. This resource from the National Park Service, which officially launched on January 1, 2018, is full of history, images, videos, website links, addresses, etc. It has been incredibly valuable during my travels. There is, however, something intriguing about the site. If you look at the Interactive Map, you'll see civil rights related locations marked in what are mostly Southern U.S. states. However, before 2019, there were no locations in Florida marked on the map. Looking at it now, you can see 5 Florida locations - Panama City, St. Augustine, Mims, Vero Beach and Sarasota.  

Scroll back up to the first two exhibit pictures. What you see is a diverse group of civil rights marchers "walking through" several cities, including the Florida cities of St. Augustine and Jacksonville. There were also actions, such as lunch counter sit-ins and wade-ins, in Orlando, and other well known locations such as Greensboro, NC,

MLK's Birth Home and Surrounding Sites


Just a few block away from the King Center and MLK grave site, is the birth home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.




While I waited for the MLK house tour to begin, a nice lady walked up to me and politely said "Can I ask you a personal question?" I love moments like this because of the rush of uncertainty but also the opportunity it brings to be authentic and in the moment. She asked me why, as a white man, I thought it was important to visit Dr. King's birth home and to learn about Civil Rights history overall. I simply told her I was there because I need to know this history for my own personal growth and continuing education. I need to know this history from as many perspectives as I can get because I certainly never knew it from my perspective growing up as a white middle-class kid.
Her name is Greta B. Yates. Greta owns and runs Greta Be...Productions, "...an innovative multi-dimensional faith based company that strives to impact and change lives through dynamic and captivating live experiences of artistic excellence." We both had a sense of fate being involved in what others might call our serendipitous meeting. Greta appreciated my willingness to answer her questions. She told me she was thinking about asking other people, including a few white women, but hesitated based on how the question might be received. We were able to have a friendly and meaningful conversation on civil rights history and our country's current struggle with racial issues. I was also able to tell her about Daryl Davis's unique work, blending music and activism, something he presented for Valencia College's Peace Week in Fall 2018. I'm glad she asked me because it gave me yet another chance to reflect on why I'm doing all of this during my sabbatical.

View from the MLK house front porch, looking past a row of shotgun houses, to Downtown Atlanta


National Park Service sign near the row of Shotgun Houses on "Sweet" Auburn Street in Atlanta


Located on the same street is the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. King, his Father and Grandfather all preached.



Some music from inside the Church


A Moment to Reflect...


As I walked back to my Airbnb rental in Atlanta, I noticed this mural of John Lewis, an icon of the Civil Rights movement who still serves in the U.S House of Representatives for the State of Georgia:


UPDATE: John Lewis passed on July 17, 2020. 

On one of the electric poles just in front of me, I also noticed a familiar sticker:


Rep. John Lewis has practiced non-violence for all of his adult life. The location of the Lewis mural and the Antifa sticker, across the street from one another, brings up, among other things, the issues of how people choose to enact change in our society and how to respond to far right groups. I've seen stickers for Antifa groups in a geographically wide area since 2011:

Japan in August 2018



Poland in 2011


Anyone who chooses to study the history or present realities of civil and human rights struggles will encounter the philosophies and methods of all kinds of groups/movements. My teaching career at Valencia College and participation in the Peace and Justice Institute, has taught me quite a lot about the philosophy, methods and leaders of peace. As much as possible, I use peace practices to inform my interactions with everyone I meet, especially during my recent travels through our Southern states and the ever present civil rights history. In light of our current national politics and continuing struggle for social justice, my hope is that people will take a stand for civil and human rights. In doing so, I hope people will also develop and include a daily peace practice - take time every day to nurture the better parts of our human nature - for example, compassion, patience, kindness, love and the capacity for healing. 






Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Mississippi

Tallahatchie and Leflore Counties, Mississippi

Sunday, September 2, 2018

Please go back and read my comments towards the end of the post on Little Rock...about the statement made by a woman on the tour of Little Rock Central High School. I'll add some comments later but for now I'm going to let these images speak for themselves:



If you want more context for the photos above, here is a article from 2018 with comments from Patrick Weems. I spent most of Sunday afternoon talking with him at the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, MS. where he serves as co-founder. More recently, new bullet proof signs have been installed at the site.

If you've done any study of the civil rights struggle, you know that lynchings, intimidation and other forms of terrorism against black citizens existed before Emmett Till's death. For example - from 1877 to 1950, the state of Florida had more lynchings per capita than any other state. In addition, Orange county had more lynchings than any other county in Florida. 

So what was I doing in Mississippi? The story of Emmett Till takes place in the communities of Money and Greenwood (Leflore County), Glendora and Sumner (Tallahatchie County) and Sunflower County, Mississippi. Many historians call the lynching of Emmett Till on August 28, 1955, the start of the U.S. Civil Rights movement. It is why the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place on August 28, 1963. I had to go there to pay my respects and to be educated in this history. 

I first went to the site where Emmett Till's body was found - on the banks of the Tallahatchie River in Glendora, MS. I admit I was a bit uncomfortable going to this area. A few friends told me not to go to Mississippi because of the still existing racism and suspicion of outsiders. In addition, the location where Till's broken body was found is in the middle of vast cotton fields where there is little to no help if anything happens. As you might have noticed from the date above, I decided to go on a Sunday morning. I assumed people would be in church and/or on their best behavior. Being in this isolated location gave me a small sense of how easy it must have been to terrorize a population in those times. 



I walked down to the river's edge and found a red blanket laid out on the ground. I asked Patrick Weems about this but he was just as perplexed about its existence and meaning. I thought it may have been evidence of a homeless camp or possibly someone's kind attempt to mark the area where Till's body was placed after being pulled up from the river but in reality, I don't know the answer. 



I next stopped at the Emmett Till Historical Intrepid Center (ETHIC) just to see it. I knew it wasn't open on this day but still needed to make a stop at as many locations related to his story as I could. 




Next I visited the Sumner Courthouse where the "trial" of J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant resulted in the two being acquitted by an all white, all male jury. Women were not allowed to serve on jury duty at that time according to the southern norms. Patrick told me the jury was made up of poor whites who had no education and distorted, concrete-solid racist attitudes - all the more reason to take out their frustrations on anyone from the black population - a 14 year old child in this case. The two men later confessed to the murder of Till but because of double jeopardy, couldn't be tried for the same crime twice. Carolyn Bryant, the original accuser of Till, later recanted her accusation. In the video below, Patrick provides a brief description of why the court room was renovated and then returned to its original design:


The apology mentioned by Patrick happened in 2007. 

The Till historic marker is on the right side of the courthouse

A monument to Southern heroes of the Civil War is on the left side of the courthouse



Quick note - For the last few years, several celebrities have been working on producing films, tv series, etc. on the Emmett Till story.

Patrick told me a story about a local man who one day showed up at the Sumner County courthouse, site of the trial against the two men charged with Till's murder.  The man started shouting racial slurs, threatening violence and complaining that he did not want to hear anything more about "this history". Remember, there is a civil war monument on the courthouse grounds. His intentions to use his truck to tear out the newly installed historical marker in front of the courthouse were obvious. 

The local sheriff called a member of the Center, Carolyn Webb, for help. She was able to get this man to slow down and think about Emmett by appealing to the fact that this man also had a 14-year-old son. He paused and drove away. A little while later, the man showed up to Carolyn's house and said he and his wife wanted to donate the cloth for the unveiling of the historical marker planned for the next day. This man even said he would protect the marker from any harm from now on. He slowed down, made a connection between his son and the humanity of Emmett Till, and changed his actions. He cared about people but the circle was not inclusive. Carolyn offered a pathway for change and he took it.

My last stop was at the site of Bryant's Grocery & Meat Market - the place where this terrible story begins. What's left of the building is now overgrown with plants and barely standing. According to the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, the crumbling building and site is now owned by the descendants of Ray Tribble, one of the jurors in the 1955 trial. Critics say the site is being "held hostage" by the family for a sales price of 4 million dollars. 



I'll end this post with what is, in my opinion, the most pivotal moment next to Till's murder. Moses "Mose" Wright, Till's Great Uncle, was called by the prosecution as a witness. He courageously stood up and pointed to the murderers. Look for the U.S. Flag on the left. The chair below it was approximately where Wright would have stood. Brian (with the black hat), Jesse (the teenager in the middle) and Patrick (man on right) are the people in the picture. Brian and and his step-grandson Jesse were on the tour with me. Patrick was giving us the tour and is seated in the same place as the defendants. You can see how close Wright would have been to Milam and Bryant in this incredibly intense moment. Wright risked everything to point out the murderers. He later left Mississippi, never to return again. 



Brian, the man wearing the black hat in the photo above, had this statement on his shirt: 
Make Racism Wrong Again

UPDATE: There are efforts underway to turn the sites related to Emmett Till into a National Park.