Some of us may be familiar with the phrase, “One man’s meat is another man’s poison.” I would have reason think about this, albeit from a totally different perspective. “I have a dream…” this simple four-word phrase is largely associated with one man, a man who dared to fight for equal rights in America amid intense opposition. I visited Georgia for the first time in June 2014. I was very happy to be chauffeured to downtown Atlanta, where I visited the house he once lived, worshipped at Ebenezer Baptist Church, a church, where he and his father were co- pastors. I think I wrote about it back then, and 11 years later, I would learn that there are more stories to tell.
It all started with a phone call. At the other end was the amazing and feisty Rubye Neal, at almost 90 years old, her zeal for history and humanity remain unabated. “Would you like to go on a bus ride to Alabama?” She asked me, and of course my answer was a resounding yes, especially as it was an all-expense paid trip! Like my Pidgin English Naija speakers would say, “Who no like beta tin?”
So, Saturday, June 7 we embarked on a very significant journey. Departure point was the City of Lawrenceville’s Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, yet another landmark, where we all converged at the crack of dawn. It was nice to see a few faces I hadn’t seen in a while, like Doris Stewart. “I was happy to see your name on the roster,” Doris said to me. She would be my ‘neighbor’ on this trip as we had a lot of catching up to do. There were two large 50 -seater buses that would convey us to our destination. We boarded the bus and at 6:45am the journey began.
I always say that there is something divine about sites and locations. Yes, I was happy to connect with the Martin Luther King locations in Atlanta Georgia, but I would learn that an even bigger story waited in the wings of Montgomery Alabama.
The four-hour bus drive to Montgomery was nice and smooth. On getting to Alabama there is a rest stop, where visitors take a break, and get a sneak peak of Alabama’s rich history by way of literature and a few landmarks.
The next stop was the Peace and Justice Memorial Center, which sits on about six acres of land. In this place I learned about lynching. I would learn that thousands of Americans were victims of mob violence and lynching across the United States between 1865 (when slavery officially ended) and 1950. Their names are engraved on large rectangular blocks and arrayed in impeccable order. Other monuments include statues of descendants of lynching victims, modified footprints of women who were arrested for challenging Montgomery’s law, requiring racial segregation on buses and a host of others.
As we walked through this emotional yet didactic place, I could read the moods of other fellow tourists, excited at being able to connect with the harrowing experiences of the people who walked before them, sober at the inhuman treatment inflicted upon for mundane reasons, yet grateful for the way they paved for all to walk free today.
It was time for the next phase and that would be one we enjoyed – lunch! I did marvel at the level of organization of the tour and attention to detail. We had the option of a wide variety of snacks on the bus: fruit snacks, chips, cookies, fruit bars, chocolate chip cupcakes in their cute little packets need I go on? Anyway, yours truly would have none of that, for reasons best to her, but I was very impressed with the trash bags tied to the end of each seat for easy disposal, and that is where my empty bottles of water went.
Lunch was divine. We had a choice of salmon baked in honey sauce or southern fried chicken and to go with it, were green beans, salad, macaroni and cheese, a choice of corn bread or bread roll, and for dessert, the most delicious peach cobbler I have ever had.
Perhaps this was to get us all nicely relaxed and prepared for the final leg of leg of tour and that would be the Legacy Museum. Visitors to this place would get to see the different stages and phases of the harrowing journey of their ancestors. In this place, even the walls will speak to you – Negroes for Sale, Negro Catalogue, Negroes Raffle, Come One Come All… I saw model cells, which looked more like toilet spaces, but served as ‘befitting accommodation’ to large groups of people. I marveled at modern technology, which connects one to the ghosts of the past. When you sit on the bench in front of the cell, a ‘spirit’ appears, which is simply a white shadow of some of the people who once lived there. You get to hear their stories and listen to their powerful songs, perhaps born out of the depths of oppression.
I went to another section which is a depiction of the prison cells. In this place, I became the visitor. I would pick up the phone and the prisoner would pick up opposite me. Thanks to modern technology, he or she would appear on screen and narrate their story. I would learn that people were jailed for the most mundane reasons. “The prison concept especially in these parts was born out of slavery,” said my friend Doris. She had ancestors born in slavery.
I also saw modified documents which listed questions that people of color had to answer correctly to be eligible to vote, such as, “How many windows can be counted at the White House in Washington DC?”
In this place, again thanks to modern technology, you feel the ocean experience of the journey to the unknown, visuals, the sounds of the ocean waves and the loud cries and bodies of the helpless.
“I have a dream…” yes indeed, I would remember this phrase, but somehow the words resonated more in Sweet Home Alabama, where Martin Luther King among other historical figures such as Rosa Parks fought for civil rights. Some of their methods included boycotting the public bus transportation. Indeed, even I, perhaps the only Nigerian in the tour was able to ride the bus by virtue of these boycotts.
“I have a dream…” I read Dr Martin Luther King’s speech and will continue to do so. One thing that struck me was a scripture he quoted in his speech. “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” (Isaiah 40:4-5).
One man’s dream, another man’s reality…for me, the reality here is the Lord’s glory and, in this scripture, I see a process, the process of valleys being exalted and hills and mountains made low. When this happens, the glory of the Lord is seen by all flesh regardless of color or race. This indeed is my reality.
