We left Savannah straight after breakfast and as it was long drive (170 miles) to Macon we decided to take Interstate 65 as it would be quicker. We made a short detour to Dublin, GA to visit the small Martin Luther King Jr. Monument Park.
We overnighted in Macon, GA and drove along the Interstate in beautiful sunshine to Montgomery, AL the following day (Friday). We were now in the “Heart of Dixie”.
We arrived in Montgomery around lunchtime, having gained an hour due to a change of Time Zone. The heat was stifling - over 100 degrees. We had lunch in Chris’ Hot Dogs, a legendary diner in the city since 1917. It is now run by the owner’s son and grandson.
Montgomery was named after Richard Montgomery, an Irish soldier who spent most of his childhood in Abbeville, Kinsealy, Dublin. He became a major general under Washington during the American War of Independence.
Most of the main places of interest in Montgomery are tied to the American Civil Rights Movement, in which the city played a key role. It was here at this spot that Rosa Parks, who was a civil rights activist, refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus on 1st December, 1955.
Her defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott; its success launched nationwide efforts to end racial segregation of public facilities.
On Saturday we drove to Selma, in the centre of the Alabama ‘Black Belt’. The town is the heart of the history of the Civil Rights Movement. It is most well known for Bloody Sunday, 7th March, 1965. On this day, 600 civil rights marchers were preparing to march to Montgomery when state troopers and deputies beat and tear-gassed them as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. They were forced back through the streets of Selma and many were injured.
We visited the small Civil Rights Memorial Park, where we met Columbus, a resident of Selma whose uncle had marched on Bloody Sunday and beaten by the troopers and lost an eye. He talked to us about the struggle for civil rights, pointed out some trees close by where lynchings took place and told us about the ongoing hardship for many black people living in the area.
Selma is a small town with many run-down buildings and has a very sad, depressing feel to it.
On our way back to Montgomery, we visited the Lowndes County Interpretative Center. This National Park Service site is dedicated to those who peacefully marched from Selma to Montgomery to gain the right to vote.
Montgomery, the capital of Alabama represents an important place in the fight for voting rights, with the Alabama State Capitol Building having served as the end point of the third march for voting rights from Selma. It was here on 25th March, 1965 that Martin Luther King Jr. gave a powerful speech (often referred to as the “How Long, Not Long” speech) encouraging the people to keep up the struggle.
On Sunday morning I visited the National Memorial for Peace and Justice which is the country’s first Memorial dedicated to the legacy of enslaved black people, people terrorised by lynching and African Americans humiliated by racial segregation. It was opened in April, 2018.
The memorial structure at the centre of the site is constructed of over 800 steel monuments, one for each county in the US where racial terror lynchings took place and engraved with the names of the victims.
It is a powerful memorial and the visit was a somber and sobering experience.
Very moving T and serious stuff for a road trip. Glad to see Rosa Parkes is commemorated, a brave lady. Hopefully lighter fare awaits you both in New Orleans.
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