Day 17 - Trevor

Day 17 started off with a seven o’clock wake up and a forty minute drive to Selma, Alabama. When we arrived in Selma we were taken to the Interpretive Center, this center revolves around the March in Selma for voting rights that many people in the Civil Rights Movement were involved in. At the center we watched a powerful movie about the incredible march and the people who were in this amazing feat.
As we drove deeper and deeper into Selma we came across the incredible Edmond Pettis Bridge, not far from the bridge we went to a moving museum about the incredible Civil Rights workers, our speaker told us of the many people who are never named. These are not the Martin Luther King’s, or the Rosa Park’s these are not people in history books. They all still have a story however; everyone involved in the movement has a story.

From this amazing museum we came to the peak of our day, the Slavery and Civil War Museum in Selma, Alabama is one of the greatest museums that I have ever been to. When we arrived in front of the museum we all heard a yell and the males were taken from the bus and then the females. When we were taken off of the bus we were then inspected. We were inspected because from that point on we would be truly entranced in the Middle passage and the slave trade. After being inspected we were sent inside the museum. We were sent into a pitch black room and locked in there for about 5 minutes. While standing there we began to hear screams followed by sniffles of fear from our classmates. Next we boarded the ship. That was my breaking point. Hot tears of fear and anger streamed down my face. I couldn’t understand why people were treated this way because of the color of their skin. As we went through the experiment I couldn’t help but imagine that the pain I am feeling now is not half of what the slaves who experienced these atrocities actually went through.
When we left the museum we drove to the infamous Edmond Pettis Bridge. We all know of the atrocities that happened here on Bloody Sunday decades ago. We were each paired up, an African American student with a Jewish one and we marched across the bridge arm and arm as Jeffrey sang a Freedom Song. As we walked I couldn’t help but think of all of those who had come before me and were beaten just for their right to vote. This was truly a powerful and moving moment for all of us.

The last thing of this very long and draining day was Mishkan Isreal, the only and oldest Jewish Synagogue in Selma, Alabama. Here we were told the story of the Southern Jews and the story of this famous Synagogue. Our speaker told us about the importance of this national monument in the Jewish community of Selma, Alabama. This Synagogues oldest member was eighty-nine years old and their youngest was fifty –nine. This means that this Synagogue will soon come to an end if they do not receive help. The Jewish community of Selma needs the help of as many people as they can get. We have to come together to make sure that this beautiful synagogue is not taken away from this amazing community.

This day was one the hardest days for me on this twenty three day journey. We experienced the life of slaves, walked the infamous bridge of Bloody Sunday, and went to a historic monument for the Jewish people in Selma, Alabama. Through all of this we came out stronger and better people, we can never experience the exact pain of what our ancestors went through. We