Over the last 6 days I have been spending time with a class traveling the south and exploring the path and trails of civil rights. We have also had the privelage of studying the leaders who have changed the world that we live in today. Some leaders are the familiar names that many are familiar: Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Malcom X. King had taken his first position of pastor at Dexter Ave. Baptist church in Mongomery at the age of 25, where he was a pastor from 54-60. King had also began his family with Caretta Scott King and they also had their first two children in the parsonage. But there were many others that I have began to appreciate. One of King's counterparts and great friends was a fellow cleargy member Ralph Abernathy. Abernathy was a pastor at a chuch near King's when King resided and pastored in Montgomery.
Another very famous man was Rev. Reeb, a white pastor who was killed while walking through Selma with two other white pastors after returning from the successful march to Montgomery from Selma. They were seen walking infront of a parlor that was known for racist whites. Reeb was clubbed in the head and died in the street.
The movement has revealed the potential that lies within men when they have a purpose, a passion, and a dream. And with the leading by Marthin Luther King Jr. along with many other civil rights activists, this dream was made possible. But this did not come without a price. Many people were injured and died in this march toward freedom and the men and women who have suffered will never be forgotten. This price also included the lives of four innocent little girls ages 11, and three 14 years old who died in a church bombing in the 16th street Baptist Church in Birmingham. On this same day in Birmingham, a young boy was shot and killed.
This movement was led upon the path of Civil Disobedience. The philosophy of non-violence was a message that King learned from the teaching and leadings of Gandhi in India's drive for freedom from Great Britian. With King's open mind to study the movement that was led by Gandhi, and the desire he had to follow Christ's calling in his life, King was able to lead an unstopable force that would change lives in the United States in the school system, the public, and the government.
The stories that have been brought to life over this past week will hopefully hold a lasting impact for my entire life to come.
