Make me an angel that flies from Montgomery...

We woke up to a big diner-style breakfast with Nan in Fairhope, and headed northeast to Montgomery. We had our copy of Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson, and we drove to the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. We knew we were heading to hallowed ground, but nothing could've adequately prepared us for the spiritual awakening we were about to experience. We parked our car and were greeted by this powerful quote:

Upon entering the museum, we were informed that the building that houses the museum is the same building that used to temporarily warehouse slaves when they would be brought off boats from the nearby river. You could palpably feel the human suffering, and the ghosts of the souls who had been there, which were captured as holograms in the museums first exhibit. The museum is one of the most emotional, experiential, well-curated museums I have ever visited. It engages you on a multi-sensory level and flawlessly connects the dots from the trans-Atlantic slave trade, to the domestic slave trade, to the post-reconstruction era and Jim Crow and the thousands of lynchings that went unchecked, to segregation, to the War on Drugs, to mass incarceration. No one can argue this straight line of racism and oppression. And this museum is a living, breathing testimony to it all.

 

We met our dear friend Will Marble and his middle daughter, Addison, at the museum. They came over from Birmingham to join us. Addison is close to Wendell's age, and she and Wendell asked such precious and innocent questions about why people would ever treat other people like that. At a certain point, they both hit their saturation point, so Will and I took them outside to play. Mahalia and Will, however, were not ready to go. They were captivated by the painful truths on display at the Legacy Museum, and proceeded to spend a total of 3 hours reading and experiencing everything the museum had to offer. When they came out, we all drove over to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which is a memorial to the thousands of lynchings that occurred without ever being prosecuted, and were, in fact, grossly accepted by many whites as a normal part of life in the South. This haunting memorial is different from the museum, in that it is just that, a memorial, an honorary mass grave of sorts that both holds America accountable for it's sins, and also names and honors the dead. It was, quite simply, one of the most moving things I've ever experienced, and I think every American needs to visit both of these places. 

Fists up in solidarity with resistance...and justice!

This experience changed us. It reaffirmed the core tenets of our faith, as expressed in Micah 6:8:
"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”