Sankofa day 1 reflections
Sankofa day 1
We left
Bethel and drove straight through to Memphis. That night on the bus was very interesting. I tried sleeping in every position in my seat but none of them worked all that well. I must have got a few hours of sleep but it felt like I didn’t get any. The next morning I learned that some of the smart students just sleep on the floor and got a good nights rest. That was the one position that I did not try.
When we got to Memphis we went to the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel. The Lorraine Motel was the place that Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. The Museum was the first to record the full history of African- Americans in the United States. The story began with 1619 and went to 1968 the year King was killed.
One of the things that always gets me at this museum is just how complex the story is. There are so many names, dates, events, and places. Some of them show great strength, courage, and wisdom, and others show the evilest parts of the human heart.
The stories of W.E.D. Dubois, A Philip Randolph, Jim Peck, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, all make me proud to be called an American. Their stories give me an imagination to try to live as they lived, full of courage. Their wisdom is so rich I think that I will spend the rest of my life diving into its depth.
On the other hand in this museum I see and hear the story of how slavery evolved into a system that came to view African – Americans as not being human, but like animals. I see them being treated worse then livestock. I hear the story of how after the Civil war Slavery evolved into Segregation through court rulings like “Plessy V Ferguson (1896). This segregation led to a brutal, dehumanizing existence and continued to enslave African-Americans.
The other thing that gets to me is the death of Martin Luther King. If he would have lived what kind of world would we be living in? How could he have lead us into a better world, how could he have shown us what it means to live as one?
James Earl Ray was convicted for the crime but I believe that he did not act alone. For one he was connected internationally, which leads me to believe that he was not just your average criminal. Also the Official committee said that he was not a racist that wanted to kill King, the committee said that his motivate was the promise of financial reward. (Select Committee on Assassinations HSC Vol 13 page 242) I wonder who promised him money? By that time King was being followed daily by the FBI, he was talking about issues of poverty, and he was coming out against the war. I believe that the US government had many reason to take him out. If you read Howard Zinn’s Book “People’s History of the United States”, the idea of the US government taking out someone like King is very easy to believe.
After the museum we went to Neely’s and got some of the best soul food on the earth, and then headed to Birmingham.
