By Ken Karp
Eight Society members and a nonmember celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act by touring historic sites in Atlanta, Georgia, and Montgomery and Tuskegee, Alabama, last month. David Bland, Susan Lesh, Ken and Terri Karp, Ron and Lisa Schwartz, Eileen White, and a nonmember joined Leader Curt Collier on the three-day tour.
Photo by Susan Lesh
Unique in this country is the National Memorial for Peace in Montgomery, a powerful tribute to the 4,400 victims of racial lynchings in the United States between 1877 and 1950. The centerpiece is a field of 800 suspended steel columns, each representing a county where a lynching occurred and listing the victims by name or as “Unknown.” As the visitor ventures deeper into this outdoor exhibit, the columns hang higher until they appear as if they might be hanging from the height of a tree.
The companion Legacy Museum, a short drive away, tells the story of slavery in America from slave ship days to its ongoing legacy of mass incarceration. Together, these sites evoke a range of emotions, including sadness, anger, and perhaps even guilt, but also empathy, compassion, and a determination to create a more just and equitable world.
Tour stops also included Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, where King and wife Coretta lie in repose; the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King was co-pastor at the time of his death (and where US Senator Raphael Warnock currently serves as pastor); the location on historic Montgomery Street where Rosa Parks was removed from a segregated bus and arrested for refusing to yield her seat to a white person, and where a statue in her likeness now stands; the Freedom Rides Museum, a former Greyhound Bus terminal where Freedom Riders were violently attacked in 1961; Tuskegee University, the historically black university (HBU) where Leader Curt previously led a youth team that rehabilitated a portion of “The Oaks,” Booker T. Washington’s historic home; and the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.
As tour guide, Curt shared the knowledge and experience of his many trips to the area. As travel adviser and bus driver, he made everything easy for the tourists. The Civil Rights Tour was informative and inspirational. Where will he take us next?
Ken Karp is a member of the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County.