Hey everyone!! Today we went to the University of Birmingham and sat in on a Civil Rights class. We stayed there for a little bit over a 2 hours and listened to a professer speak. Then, we traveled to Montgomery and went to the Rosa Parks Museum. I thought the museum was really fun, and a learned a lot about Rosa Parks and the bus boycott. After that we ended our day with dinner at Dreamland BBQ and then checked into our hotel. -Emily

Today we spent the morning at University of Alabama-Birmingham. At the University Professor Pamela King and Professor Horace Huntley talked about Civil Rights from the southern perspective. They talked mostly about if there are racial problems today. It seems to me that ones idea of predjuice depends on their own personal experiences. I really enjoyed meeting the Professor who wrote the book about the people who were in the trenchs of the Civil Rights Movement. We then went to the Rosa Parks Museum in Montomery and we learned about the bus boycott and how Rosa Parks started it. I saw Rosa on the bus and how she refused to give up her seat. I would never have had the courage to do something like that. After all of that we ate dinner and went back to the hotel. More insight tommorrow.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Today the focus was still in Birmingham and then on to Montgomery. We had a very interesting discussion on the role of young people in the Civil Rights movement. The folks today talked about how the involvement of the young people in the movement and especially in the marches was a real turning point. The girls talked to Horace Huntley, who wrote "Foot Soldies for Democracy," interviews of hundreds of people involved in the Civil Rights movement.

Rosa Parks, who is called the "mother of the Civil Rights Movement" was featured today. Several pictures from the visit to her museum are on the blog, including a picture of her statue in the museum.

Day Three: Birmingham and Montgomery

Today the girls spent the morning in Birmingham listening to Dr. Pamela King and Dr. Horace Huntley speak about the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Huntley talked about his oral history project that was recently published. His book is called Foot Soldiers for Democracy. Dr. Huntley talked to Morgan, Emily, Anika and Miranda about the ways that they might be able to work for justice in their own community. He also signed his book for us. Next we had lunch with students from the University of Alabama Birmingham. It was fun to be on a college campus for lunch. After Birmingham we traveled to Montgomery to the Rosa Parks Museum. The girls really enjoyed our tour guide and learned more about the bus boycott. Rosa Parks was a very strong and couragous woman. We also learned about JoAnn Robinson and the other women who started the boycott. It was interesting to learn that the boycott lasted 382 days. That was a very long time to walk!

More about the four girls in Birmingham

Someone asked about the four girls from the Birmingham bombing at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Here are pictures of them. They were Denise McNair (11), Addie Mae Collins (14), Carole Robertson (14) and Cynthia Wesley. Sadly, twenty-three other people were injured in the explosion as well.

Great Day

I wonder if I would have had the courage to stand up to the people who were against integration. The girls who were killed in Birmingham were my age. The kids who marched and were arrested in Birmingham were even younger than me. The museum was very very interesting and it was very uplifting. I learned a lot and when I walked through the Kelly Ingram Park with the statues showing you what happened like dogs coming at you and fire hoses pointed at you I hoped I would have had the courage to be like those students who stood up for what was right.

Hey everyone, it's Emily again. We just got back from a busy day of going to church, museums and bus rides. First, we had a church service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Sr. used to preach. As the service started, everybody came over and greated us while the choir sang a welcoming tune, they had to be the nicest group of people ever. After that we went to Martin Luther King Jr. museums, information areas and saw where he was buried. After that we took our big bus to Birmingham, AL and went to the Civil Rights Institute, which was filled with information about the Civil Rights Movement. After that we went across the street to Kelly Ingram park. This park has all different statues, some of African-Americans getting sprayed with high-pressure fire hoses, getting attacked by dogs and one of MLK Jr. This park is where most of the peace walks and meetings where for the African-Americans. After that we went to the 16th Street Baptist Church. Most people don't know about it but it was a important in the Civil Rights Movement. On September 15, 1963 the members of the 16th Street Baptist Church where preparing for a church ceremony as always. All of the sunden a bomb went off in the basement that killed 4 girls all close to our age. The bomb was planted by the Ku Klux Klan. Keep following our trip!!