Banned In The USA:

A Study of American Freedom

The Big Trip
April 7-14, 2007

The gang started out bright and early Saturday morning. They made the first start of the journey in Hickory, NC to speak with Leng Vang about the Hmong people who have settled in North Carolina as refugees.

The next day the group headed to Selma, AL to re-trace the steps of the civil rights fighters over the Edmund Pettis Bridge. They also visited a locally created Civil Rights and Voting Rights museum. The students heard first hand accounts of what it was like to be a part of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. The students finished their day in Selma by visiting the slavery museum in Selma.

On Monday, The group visited the National Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, AL. There they put their names on the Wall of Tolerance after hearing from Andrew Bejwas from the Southern Poverty Law Center. There they met Reverend and Mrs. Graetz who knew Dr. King. Reverend Graetz preached in Montgomery at the same time as Dr. King and both he and his wife were very influential in the Civil Rights movement. The students dined with him at Martha's Restaurant.

The next day the group made it to New Orleans. While in New Orleans the group visited the Backstreet Cultural Museum where they learned about the second line parades for Mardi Gras. They also had lunch with Katy Reckdahl, a journalist in New Orleans who told of her experience during Katrina and told the students what to expect when going to the 9th Ward. The group did make it to the 9th ward where they viewed the devastation from Katrina first hand. The next day the student visited the St. Louis cemetery which was always racially integrated.

On Thursday, the group left New Orleans and traveled on to Tunica, Mississippi, a town that has been revitalized by casinos. There they spoke  with representatives from the Tunica Chamber of Commerce and learned how the casinos rebuilt the community. The students received a tour of a casino and those who were 21got to spend some time on the game floor.

The group the drove to Memphis, TN where they toured the National Civil Rights Museum which is located at the Lorraine Motel where Dr. King was assassinated. This rounded off the different views on the Civil Rights movement. Later that afternoon the students met with the student leader for the University of Memphis chapter of NORML, (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws).  Before heading back to Lynchburg, the students toured Graceland.