"So much to do...so little time!"

The End of a Journey

A week seemed like such a long time.  We wanted so much to take it all in and then it was time to end our southern journey.  We learned and saw so much and still there's a need to return and learn more.  Our final stop was the  Civil Rights Memorial at the Southern Poverty Law Center.  A perfect ending to our long journey.  The memorial honors those who died during the Civil Rights Movement from 1954-1968.  The memorial is a circular black granite table with the inscribed names of 40 individuals whose lives were taken. A gentle flow of water bubbles from its center.  The wall behind the table has an inscription from a speech given by Martin Luther King Jr.  with water that flows in front of it.  It is breath taking.

Inside the memorial were displays giving the history of Montgomery.  The walls held stories and pictures of the individuals the museum was dedicated to.  A beautiful film "Faces in the Water," connected the faces and their stories and the names found in the memorial fountain.  I found food for thought in a quote by Robert F. Kennedy on a display wall. The excerpt is taken from The Day of Affirmation Address, University of Capetown , Capetown, South Africa, June 6, 1966.

"Few will have the greatness to bend history: but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events, and in the total of all these acts will be written the history of this generation."

"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped.  Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

At the end of our visit we added our names to the Wall of Tolerance:  

Deborah Nelson Linck             Paula Rodriguez. 

 The Wall of Tolerance records the names of people who have made a commitment to work in their daily lives for justice, equality and human rights- the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement.