Sorry for the delay-Internet has been a little sporadic ….but now in full color!
Breakfast at Hargis
Meet with LaQuita Middleton Holmes
and Children’s March participants Janice Kelsey at the Bethel Baptist Church
Confederate Memorial Park
On to Selma
Dinner with our hosts – Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation
at Healing Waters Retreat Center.
Retire to 1412 Water Avenue
Even though we spent much of today in the car, it felt extraordinarily full with extraordinary people and places. The morning at Bethel Baptist Church was impossible to describe. LaQuita’s power and emotion overwhelmed me. I was moved to tears by her poem about lynching and am very grateful that she drove all the way from Texas to be with us.
-Solomon
You could hear her voice before she even appeared. It was a voice saying words that together made something so much more than any reading ever could. She started singing of Emmett Till and lynching. Starting with a poem with so much emotion you need to almost turn away. Within three minutes, she had cried, laughed, yelled, and whispered.
-Ellie
Janice Kelsey came in and talked to us. She had taken part in the Children’s March and shared her experiences with us. She was also funny as heck. I thought it was interesting how she told us that she was just a normal teenager during the movement but had joined and made a huge difference. I wonder how that can happen with climate change and if the youth can really stand up. Will it be the cool thing to do?
-Django
The Confederate Memorial Park was helpful in knowing more about the confederacy and completing the story. It was not too pushy except for the gift shop. Seeing an African American fighting involuntarily with the confederacy was very maddening. He did not look at all happy and he was standing right behind his master.
-Ben
Back to Historic Bethel Baptist 
Dr. Martha Bouyer returns to spend more time with us 
We help Dr. Bouyer with a poem 
We help Dr. Bouyer with a poem 
LaQuita Middleton-Holmes: recites her extraordinary poetry 
James recites his poem 
Janice Kelsea – Participant in the Birmingham Children’s March 
Ava recites her speech from the pulpit of Reverend Shuttlesworth 
Ilona recites her speech 
Siri recites her poem 
Owen recites her poem 
Elli’s poem fills the church 
Aleksa was full of spirit as she deliver her poem 
Hazel held us all with her poem, ‘Slap’ 
Magda’s simple but forceful poem unfolds 
Such focus 
Ally delivers her poem powerfully 
Ben’s poem was strong and falloff voice 
Ian sings a beautiful harmony in the song he wrote 
Farewells 
Exploring Confederate Memorial Park 
Confederate Memorial Museum 
Walking the grounds of Confederate Memorial Park 
SELMA! 
Oh yes, Selma 
Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation 
Our building where we are sleeping on Water St. 
Preparing for sleep? 
Julian recites his poem at Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation