As a part of my 2025 mini-sabbatical, I will be embarking on a personal Civil Rights Pilgrimage.
You can read more about the sabbatical here.
I will be driving through Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Georgia for about 2 weeks. I have planned several stops along the way – although I expect that others will pop up as I travel.
To be clear – these are not all the important places to learn about Civil Rights in America. There are plenty north of the Mason Dixon line as well, and so many untold stories scattered across the South. But these are the places that I picked out as I considered my learning.
Louisiana
Whitney Plantation, outside of New Orleans. Rather than focusing on those who owned the Plantation, Whitney is an educational memorial to the more than 10,000 children of God who were enslaved in Louisiana.
New Orleans. The heart of the Slave Trade in the Deep South, New Orleans had a thriving slave market, and was the key logistical point for the buying and selling of both cotton and humans.
Mississippi
Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home, Jackson, MS. A native of South Louisiana and veteran of World War 2, Medgar became the first NAACP field secretary in 1954. He was involved with enrolling James Meredith in Ole Miss, voter registration drives, and investigations into the lynching of Emmitt Till. He was assassinated in front of his home in 1963, an event that had huge national impact. After a mistrial in 1964, his murderer was convicted in 1994 – an event dramatized in 1996’s Ghosts of Mississippi
Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Jackson MS
Emmitt Till Interpretive Center, Sumner MS. More than any other event, the violent lynching of 14-year old Emmitt Till brought the world’s eyes onto Jim Crow. His mother Mamie published photos of his corpse, and held an open casket funeral so that the world would know what happened to Emmitt. Despite confessions by the murderers in the press, no one was ever convicted.
Alabama
Selma, Alabama. Selma was the heart of the Black Belt, and the push for voter registration. Best known for the Bloody Sunday march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge in 1965 which brought together every major Civil Rights leader and movement at the time.
Montgomery, Alabama.
- Dexter Avenue Baptist Church: the home congregation of MLK when he was in Montgomery.
- National Memorial to Peace and Justice: memorial dedicated to the legacy of Black Americans who were enslaved, terrorized by lynching, humiliated by racial segregation, and presumed guilty and dangerous.
- Legacy Museum: Tells the story though first hand accounts and artifacts of Black enslavement and Jim Crow in the US.
Birmingham, Alabama
- 16th Avenue Baptist Church: Staging ground to the Birmingham non-violent marches and Civil Rights resistance, the church was bombed in 1963 resulting in the death of four teenagers.
- Birmingham Civil Rights Museum: recounts the events and personalities of the Civil Rights Campaign in Birmingham, which led directly to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia. A variety of sites related to the life and ministry of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr; including the King House and Ebenezer Baptist Church.
How You Can Help
You can help? Yes! You.
The Christian life is not something we do alone — even when we are off on a time of learning and prayer. Here are some concrete ways that you can support this time of renewal:
- Pray. Please pray for my safe travels, my learning, and the renewal of my faith.
- Worship. If you are in the area, worship with my friends at Spirit of Joy! – gather to hear the guest preachers there during this time, and experience the joy of that community.
- Support. Sabbaticals are not cheap. There are travel costs, meals, event registrations and museum tickets, and the cost of guest preachers while pastor is gone. Please consider a gift to Spirit of Joy! Lutheran Church to help offset the costs of this sabbatical.
- Read. Want to learn with me? Pick up a book on race and faith in America and learn along with me. Here are some recommendations for places to start reading.
- A little more. Speaking of support – not all of the expenses on a trip like this are “official” expenses. A stop at a local coffee shop. A meal with a friend. Snacks for the road. If you would like to contribute to my “fun money” for this trip, you can make a gift via Paypal: @revdavid or via Venmo @rev_david
