"There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
Since today is a day in honor of Martin Luther King, I thought it only fitting to share about my trip to Montgomery, Alabama this past summer. My life has been consumed of softball for the past 20 years, and I have missed out on a lot of things that I've had to turn down because "I have softball this weekend." However, it has also taken me on a lot of fun adventures and new places. This past summer, our team traveled to Alabama for the USA/ASA National tournament. While the week was full of softball, we also were able to take advantage of our time there to visit the Rosa Parks Museum and have a history lesson about Martin Luther King.
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| We visited the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church |
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| The pulpit that MLK preached from |
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| We visited the home where Martin Luther King, Jr. lived with his family |
The gal that gave us the tour of MLK's home, was actually a member of the church when he was pastor there. It was so hard for me to fathom that this part of history was such a short time ago and that our tour guide lady, Margaret, lived and breathed the bus boycott that took place following Rosa Parks refusal to give up her seat. I asked Margaret if she participated in the boycott. She said that she supported it, but as a teacher she was not allowed to actually march and protest or she would have sacrificed her job. I was in awe of the fact that this lady got to hear Dr. King minister to their church every Sunday, and is still an active member of the church today. What's also amazing to me is the lady that lives right next door to MLK's home and sits on the rocker on her front porch every day, was living in that same house when Martin Luther King's family lived there.
I learned so much on this trip that the history books just didn't quite capture when I was in school. Living on the West Coast, we are very far removed from this part of history. It was extremely eye opening to have the very vivid reminder that this did not happen all that long ago, which I also find extremely sad. I absolutely do not understand the lack of humanity and how people can treat other people so badly, simply because they are perceived as different.
It was an amazing experience to share with the other parents and the players on our team. Even as teenagers, they were able to grasp the gravity of what it must have been like back then, and they came home with the best history lesson they will ever get on the civil rights era, hearing it directly from a few that lived and breathed during that time.
"The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But...the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?' " -Martin Luther King, Jr.
What a neat post for MLK Jr. day! I haven't seen much of the South so this was really interesting!
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I absolutely love the south! Southern hospitality is a real thing. They are so nice!
Deletevery cool that you were able to expose your players to that!
ReplyDeleteIt was an amazing experience!
DeleteI love that you were able to experience that.
ReplyDeletePeople act like the Civil Rights movement was so very long ago and therefore, not really relevant to our lives in the here and now, but they're wrong. I live in Memphis (where Dr. King was unfortunately killed) and still see quite a bit of the racism that these people fought against. It's better than it was, but it definitely not gone. (It's not just the African Americans treated horribly, either.)
For us living so far away from the heart of where all this took place, it was an amazing eye opener to the fact that it was really so current! Unfortunately, I don't know if racism will ever completely be gone, but I am SO thankful it is not nearly as bad as it was. But then again, I don't live in the south, so maybe I still have blinders on.
DeleteWow. That's one part of our country's history that I don't think about very often either. When I was in 9th grade, our family traveled from Boston to Washington, DC, and back, stopping at lots of the usual touristy stops, but we didn't get any further south than DC. Maybe someday DH and I can hit the South and catch up on that part of our country's history.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE the south! The history was amazing, but the people are so incredibly nice. At least the ones that we ran into! Two years ago, our team was in Chattanooga, TN which was absolutely amazing and then last summer in Alabama. I've also been to Georgia. I have loved every place I've been to in the south.
DeleteA very good share! Auntie
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