“You don’t change the world with the ideas in your mind, but with the conviction in your heart.” —Bryan Stevenson (born 1959)
Why plan a civil rights road trip?
Confronting shameful history need not shame us. Bridges to the past need not awaken White fragility. Instead of letting white-washed microhistories stand, learn first hand how Americans cope with discomfiting truths. Visiting National Parks, monuments, historic sites and Sites of Conscience (www.sitesofconscience.org), you will meet the passionate Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities who are expert story tellers. What Junot Diaz calls a “half-baked get-to-know-our-country-better sleep-in-the-van crazy idea” is a powerful tool of resistance against the rewriting of American history in the classroom. If being stuck in a car for days doesn’t sound like fun, there are award-winning virtual exhibits to visit online. But first, check out The National Park Service’s map of sites related to civil rights across America. It’s a powerful tool for trip planning from sea to shining sea.
NOTE: Since January 2025, the Trump administration dumped 1,000 probationary Park Service employees. And pressured another 13% of the staff to quit via buyouts, early retirements, or deferred resignations. If another $900 million is cut from the Park Service, 30% more park rangers will be eliminated. 350 of 433 parks, monuments and historic sites will close. What will be lost or curtailed? Amenities for tourists, protections for the environment, wildlife and climate change studies, history. In 2o24, 335 million Americans—4 million more people than live in our entire country—spent $26.4 billion in communities surrounding National Parks, which more than compensates for the agency’s $3 billion operating budget.
SITES TO SEE: MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA
Civil Rights Memorial by Maya Lin, Southern Poverty Law Center
The Legacy Museum, Equal Justice Initiative
The National Memorial to Peace and Justice
Freedom Monument Sculpture Park
1965 Historic Route from Selma (begins at the Brown Chapel, African American Episcopal Church) and ends in Montgomery (at the top of the stairs of the Alabama State Capital)
DESTINATION: BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
Kelly Ingram Park, “The foot soldiers of Birmingham“ by Ronald S. McDowell
16th Street Baptist Church
Historic marker, MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
DESTINATIONS: JOHN BROWN
John Brown Farm State Historic Site, Lake Placid, NEW YORK
Harper’s Ferry Historical Museum and John Brown’s Fort, Harper’s Ferry, VIRGINIA
The Kennedy Farm, Washington County, MARYLAND
Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VIRGINIA
DESTINATIONS: MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, Washington D.C.
National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, Memphis, TENNESSEE
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc., Atlanta, GEORGIA
Historic marker, MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, ALABAMA
HARRIET TUBMAN SITES
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Scenic Byway, self-guided driving tour, EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND
Harriet Tubman’s home and barn, Auburn, NEW YORK
New York State Equal Rights Heritage and Visitor’s Center, Auburn, NEW YORK
Harriet Tubman Monument by Nina Cooke, Newark, NEW JERSEY
