Given that today is the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when white cops beat the crap out of the Blacks attempting to march on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the way to Montgomery, it is appropriate to remember how our synagogue re-enacted that march.. To bring the attention of the world to the need for fair and equitable voting rights- as well as civil rights, in general.
We did that six years ago. It was conceived as a response to the threatening remarks of David Duke against our congregation.
So, we spent Martin Luther King weekend walking in the shoes of the Reverend Martin Luther King, the Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Reverend James Reeb, Joanne Bland, and a slew of others. I saw recreations of Rosa Parks’ abbreviated bus ride. And, felt the pain of four young children murdered by an American terrorist at the 16th Street Baptist Church.
That trip put my long-ago efforts to register Blacks to vote in Nashville, Tennessee in the proper perspective, realizing where they were in the grand scheme of things. Those efforts complemented other college students’ work to change the process in the cities of Farmville (VA), Greensboro (NC), Charleston (SC), Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma (AL), Albany (GA), Little Rock (AR), and New Orleans (LA).
And as mentioned above, this trip our synagogue made was In response to the atrocious political process that was in full swing (with folks like the KKK’er David Duke, the alt-right, etc.). Our spiritual leader, the, Rav Shmuel Herzfeld, suggested we make a positive political statement. (David Duke had specifically attacked our synagogue and Rabbi!) It was important to teach our children (and remind us adults) what Duke represents, who we are, and who we are not.
In other words, this trip was our collective decision to answer the Supreme Being’s call… We answered “Hineni“. Here we are. We are acting to make this world a much better place.
In addition, this trip afforded many of our members (at least one other besides me had already been first-hand participants) a chance to see and experience directly the situation that pertained when the modern Civil Rights protests began. (At this time, it would be more than appropriate to thank Avril Weissman and Harris Cohen who devoted hours to converting Rav Shmuel’s concept to a viable experience.)
We left Friday morning (yes, Friday the 13th!) for Atlanta. Where we were then bussed to Montgomery (Alabama). Our stop- the replica bus where Rosa Parks finally had enough, finally refused to give up her seat for a White person. (The bus we rode in is from that same series, pieced together from various authentic parts, to provide the experience to visitors.) And, our trip lasted some 75 seconds. Because we left from the intersection of Water and Molton Streets, just like Rosa did. Until that White person walked on the bus and the driver demanded Rosa give up her seat- now. Which she refused, some 2 ½ blocks into the trip.
Now, Rosa wasn’t the first one to refuse to give up her seat. But, her action led to the 13 month Montgomery Bus Boycott. A big event, when you realize that while the Black population in Montgomery was relatively small- but provided 75% of the bus riders. So, this was a big pocketbook issue for the bus company. (While many of the protesters walked, others arranged for joint car trips- all of which were deemed illegal by the locals, which led to further problems.)
After our tour of the museum (“conveniently” located where Rosa Parks was arrested), we took our (kosher) lunches back on the bus for our trip to Selma. Most of the folks stayed at the Quality Inn, about 1.5 miles from where most of our actions would be. A few stayed at the St. James (actually contiguous to many of the activities). I, of course, was clueless, and stayed at a Hilton affiliate, a “convenient” 5+ mile trek along muddy paths.
There were no sidewalks and the trucks zoom along US 80 at a healthy clip. Oh, and another thing. The taxi service in Selma? Yeah, it’s a question mark. When I was walking along with my luggage Friday afternoon, a mom and child pulled over and asked me what the heck I was doing? And, drove me the last mile to my hotel. I never got the mom’s name (she drove off on her way seconds after I retrieved my luggage from the trunk), but she was mighty impressed some 100 or so folks from Washington DC would come down to Selma on MLK weekend to pay our respects. I was mighty impressed by her hospitality.
You can find the link to the rest of the posts about the trip right here.
Oh, and today is Purim. the holiday that celebrates the demise of Haman, who planned to kill all the Jews in the Persian Empire Instead he was hanged as Queen Esther and her uncle Mordechai saved the day for the Jews.
