Selma, AL

Today we spent the day in Selma. It was another day of mixed emotions. The state of Selma is dismal. According to the Census bureau 31% of the people who live here are below the poverty line. Most of the buildings are vacant. The picture above is on the street where much of the activism took place. You can see a sign recognizing the Dallas County [Selma] Voters League in front of an abandoned house. On this block are the major churches from which the local activism was based.

We went to the National Voting Rights Museum. It's not a national museum, in that it's a private museum. It had a variety of exhibit types--written documents, jail cell, uniform warn by sheriff's posse, etc. One of the most moving was the "I was there" wall. People who marched wrote on little pieces of paper that fill a wall. The stories of many brave, and largely unknown, people are there. The wall is what is pictured.

We walked across the bridge and thought and talked about the Selma marchers meeting the sheriff and his posse on the other side. It's an emotional trek. Their sacrifice led to thousands having the right to vote.

As you spend the day in Selma, you think about the difference that the national leaders and everyday people--often teenagers--made and have an overwhelming sense of gratitude and respect for what they did and changes that they made. You also feel like things are bleak. I guess in the end it's hard to have two perspectives: 1) the huge accomplishment of the Civil Rights Movements and 2) the long distance between where we are and equality.

I want to write more. I wonder where the national presence is. Where are the fancy museums that the federal government built in other places? I know that the national story is that racism ended with slavery, but seriously we have nothing here? I also want to write about the tasty southern cooking we had for lunch. Our hotel sent us to a restaurant where we could see everyone was white (in a 70% black city), so we went back to the museum and asked where to go. It was worth it- mac and cheese, candied yams, potato salad, mashed potatoes, squash and onions, and fried catfish. I also want to write about the weirdness of being on the road again. I can't believe we did this for 45 days just a few months ago. And finally, I can't believe that this emotional trip is going to end in Memphis where MLK was shot.