“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?

Learning shameful history, need not shame us. Living bridges to the past need not awaken White fragility. Instead of wiping out local microhistories, teach how to cope with discomfiting truths. America comes alive in the places where history was made. Plan a trip around civil rights landmarks and Sites of Conscience (www.sitesofconscience.org) where Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities still have the ability to tell their own stories, their own history.

Place-based learning is a powerful tool of resistance against the rewriting of history in the classroom. If taking a trip is out of reach, stay home and armchair travel. Support your local libraries and booksellers. Book banning also denies people the right to tell their stories.

SITES TO SEE, BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
“The foot soldiers of Birmingham, “by Ronald S. McDowell, Kelly Ingram Park
16th Street Baptist Church
Historic Civil Rights markers, including MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
and so much more…

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
1965 National Historic Trail ends at the top of the stairs of the State Capital in Montgomery
and so much more…

SITES TO SEE, SELMA, ALABAMA

1965 National Historic Trail begins at the Brown Chapel, African American Episcopal Church
Walk the length of the Edmond Pettus Bridge
National Voting Rights Museum and Institute
Selma Interpretive Center

SITES TO SEE: 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 markers, Birmingham, ALABAMA including MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail and Dexter Paronage Museum

SITES TO SEE: 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

SITES TO SEE: HARRIET TUBMAN

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Scenic Byway, MARYLAND’s Eastern Shore, self-guided driving tour
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

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
National Historic Trail begins at the Brown Chapel, African American Episcopal Church, Selma, follows the 1965 historic route to Montgomery, end at the top of the stairs of the Alabama State Capital, Montgomery

SITES TO SEE: BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
“The foot soldiers of Birmingham, “by Ronald S. McDowell, Kelly Ingram Park
16th Street Baptist Church
Historic marker, MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail

SITES TO SEE: JOHN BROWN
John Brown Farm State Historic Site, Lake Placid, NY
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, VA.

SITES TO SEE: 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

SITES TO SEE: HARRIET TUBMAN, EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND TO WESTERN NEW YORK STATE
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Scenic Byway, Maryland’s Eastern Shore, self-guided driving tour
Harriet Tubman’s home and barn, Auburn, NY
New York State Equal Rights Heritage and Visitor’s Center, Auburn, NY
Harriet Tubman Monument by Nina Cooke, Newark, NJ