Reflections from our July Trip to Alabama

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again. 

                                                                                                                                    — Maya Angelou

A second group of six women arrived in Selma and Montgomery on July 23, and by the time we left on July 25, we were changed  -– forever. Here are brief excerpts from our reflections upon returning home. A longer version has been shared with the twenty incredible women we met during our time in Alabama. On the last evening our dinner with local activists, leaders and entrepreneurs included a give and an ask. Our work is just beginning. Here are reflections from the six women:. 

…’The trip was devastatingly moving and speaks to the strength, resilience and beauty of Black Americans. The fact that we haven't, justifiably, burned the entire country down to the ground for what was done (and continues to be done) to us as a people underscores our unshakeable humanity.’

….’Going to Alabama was a life-changing experience. I grew enraged at learning about how often history is sanitized how little I learned in school, how much more I have to learn. At the same time, I was hopeful – Black people still standing and achieving in the face of white terror. Our fight for racial justice needs all of us; so, as I always tell my white friends, get your cousins. We need all of us to fight for better, for more.’

…’Frankly, when I got back on Thursday, I felt exhausted. Yet I wanted more, and I watched the new HBO documentary on Bryan Stevenson. When I woke up on Friday, I felt depressed. It's only through talking about it with others that I'm starting to ground myself. I'm also realizing the power of my own voice and the extent of my influence. I feel more equipped with the language, facts and stories to understand and talk about racial injustice. ‘
…’I don’t think I would have gone on my own. Being in Alabama was a life-defining moment. The history was palpable and our experience was so much more than you can read about in a book. 
My commitment to social justice and human rights is renewed. While all the history was extremely heavy and painful, I left the trip feeling energized and interested in making a personal action plan. I’m interested in finding ways to practice multi-racial solidarity to fight for human rights.’ 

…’I feel cheated and angry about what we learn in school. It is absolutely irresponsible that our K-12 education doesn't do more to ensure we understand our own history. I have been talking about the domestic slave trade to anyone that will listen! When it comes to reparations - anyone who visits the [EJI] Museum would have to be entirely nonsensical to not believe that we have to figure out some kind of reparations. I've always believed, and even more so, that we have to speak about the African American experience in America separately than any other immigrant population.’ 

… ‘I have actually had a difficult time reconciling this generous experience with the life that I have led. I recognize that as a first generation American, that I, too, have been subject to the same lies and propaganda as the rest of the world. I bought into, and helped to perpetuate, the "I am different black." While I have started the journey of "truth" this trip sped things up for me a bit more quickly than I was expecting. Here I am...left to reflect and reconcile my own truth. I pray that I will never be the same again.’

Returning from Alabama, on this my second trip, with a different group of six women provided even deeper learning and sometimes uncomfortable self-questioning. Was I doing anything to really change this broken world?  I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that represented what I found so wrong about how this struggle for racial justice is viewed by too many Americans.  I wrote a letter to the editor and was thrilled to see it published, even if heavily edited. I’ve only just begun and know I can do more.