Jordan Williams - Day 15

After spending the night in Montgomery, we loaded up the bus to head to Selma. As we headed to Selma, we stopped on the way at the Lowndes Interpretive Center. The museum has a small exhibit about the march from Montgomery to Selma by African Americans to gain the right to vote and to protest the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson (who was killed by police while protecting his mother from their attacks). Though the museum was small, it provided great information on the March.

Arriving in Selma, we made our second stop at the Slavery and Civil War Museum. Before even stepping off the bus, we were greeted by being called the N-word over and over. As we stepped off the bus, we were ordered to stand against a wall and keep our heads down. After the first five minutes, I had the realization that we were being treated like the enslaved Africans of the past. We were then being “transported” through time, room by room into each process of what the enslaved people, stolen from their country, had to endure. The cargo hold, the slave ship, the assembly line, and the bidding process were steps we experienced during this intense and emotional tour. The experience was so authentic that it brought a few of us to tears. Each and every one of us got to experience first hand the terrible conditions that African Americans endured.

We then had an amazing opportunity to meet Joanne Bland, Selma tour guide extraordinaire. Ms Bland detailed information about the city which provided all of us with a lot of new knowledge. Ms Bland has a colorful personality and knew her history! She spoke to us truthfully and honestly. Without a doubt, Ms Bland gave us all something to think about. We toured through places like Selma University, the Voting Rights Museum, Brown Chapel AME Church, and all through the historic downtown district. We drove through the projects, where Ms Bland grew up. It was a truly personal experience.

Then we walked two by two across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. This is the very bridge that the marchers walked across to go from Selma to Montgomery to gain the right to vote. It is also the very same bridge where “Bloody Sunday” occurred when the police beat the marchers with billy clubs and filled the air with tear gas. Bloody Sunday was a tragic event that the entire country witnessed. Mr. Robinson (our bus driver) told us earlier to walk across the bridge with pride because 50 years ago, they couldn’t walk across the bridge at all.

Next we visited Temple Mishkan Israel. There are only ten members remaining and all are over, most are well over, 65 years of change. It was interesting and a little sad to see the fate of many southern Jewish communities as their numbers are dwindling and many of them are disappearing all together.
As day 15 closes, we have processed about the events that have occurred. We reflect on what we have seen and heard and this day was one to be remembered.