The end of February is quickly approaching, and with it the end of Black History month. How appropriate to have spent this month in Alabama, the location of extraordinary, courageous acts that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
As if in anticipation of coming to Alabama, I found myself reading To Kill A Mockingbird, published in 1960. The plot takes place in author Harper Lee ‘s hometown, Monroeville, Alabama. Since 1990, a play based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has been performed annually in Monroeville. If we were going to be here this spring, I’d love to attend the performance!
We also picked up a DVD of the movie, The Long Walk Home, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Sissy Spacek. The film tells the story of ordinary people making individual sacrifices to effect change through the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. It helped me appreciate the many points of view, from the African American house maid yearning to be treated with dignity to the whites entrenched in a deeply rooted class system.
And we traveled the Selma-Montgomery March Highway — the 47-mile route that voting rights supporters took from Selma to the steps of the state Capitol in March 1965. This year marks the 45th anniversary of that pivotal event.
We’ll share our experience following the Selma-Montgomery March Highway in an upcoming post.
