Day one of the 2024 Civil Rights Trip

This morning at 4am, Gordon’s Class of 2024 gathered for their turn at the annual Civil Rights Trip to Georgia and Alabama.
 

It’s an experience they’ve been preparing for their entire time at Gordon.
 

In Nursery, they began learning to talk about identity in their All About Me presentations.
 

In Kindergarten, they connected their internal sense of right and wrong with the story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
 

In third grade, they looked at North American history from different perspectives, and discovered that what you see is depends on where you stand.
 

In fourth grade, they dug deep into the Great Migration, and its lasting impact on African American communities - and America as a whole.
 

In seventh grade, they studied enslavement in America, and the many forms of resistance it inspired.
 

All of this has left them ready to travel to the American South and meet changemakers - from the past and from the present day.
 

If you’re pulling together the past, the present and the future, Morehouse College is a great place to begin.
 

Morehouse has been a pillar of the community of historically Black colleges and universities for over one hundred and fifty years, and it remains the only institution dedicated to the education of Black men.
 

It has a broad view of its mission, too, holding students accountable for making the world a better place after they graduate.
 

The tour Gordon students got today was an admissions tour, and the guide’s pride showed in the loving details he had at his fingertips.
 

The group heard about community service requirements, housing options and study abroad programs.
 

But they also heard dozens of facts that were uniquely Morehouse: the 2,501 seats in King Chapel - always room for one more - the second loudest pipe organ in Atlanta, the third largest King memorial in the world, the room where Metro Boomin recorded Like That, and the names of the three campus cats.
 

And at the foundation of all of this is a mission of “gathering young black men together, educating them, and having them go on to be leaders.”
 

It’s a mission that was vital in 1867 and, judging by what these students saw today, it is one that remains vital today.
 

The next stop was Montgomery, Alabama, one hundred and fifty miles and one time zone away.
 

Gordon had an appointment with artist and activist Michelle Browder in the Mothers of Gynecology Park.
 

The park is centered around three immense figures, memorializing three enslaved women who were subjected to inhumane medical experimentation by J. Marion Sims.
 

The park centers the stories of Anarcha, Lucy and Betsy, three of Sims’ victims, while also functioning as a sanctuary and a protest against the continuing efforts to strip women of their bodily autonomy.
 

Browder let Gordon explore the space on their own for a few minutes.
 

Then, she sidled up to them and began asking questions.
 

Soon she had the floor, and she talked to students about having “a charge: a vision, a mission and a purpose. And you have to carry it through”. 
 

"I don’t know what your mission is, I don’t know who the writers are in this group, the dancers, the future doctors, the lawyers. But as you get older, you’ll figure out your charge. And you’ll need to carry it through."
 

Then, she explained how she discovered her charge, as a young artist, when she learned the story of Anarcha, Lucy and Betsy. 
 

What followed then was a gripping story of injustice, racism, serendipity, medicine, arts, entrepreneurship, tenacity, gender, science, and protest.
 

The story ended with the sculpture garden built, and Browder and her team owning the building where Sims had conducted his experiments, a building they are reclaiming as a training site for midwives.
 

It is slated to open on Mother’s Day.
 

The presentation was powerful, the subject was difficult, and the students had been awake since 3:30am.
 

Still, they had half an hour’s worth of thoughtful questions for Browder.
 

How often do you get to talk to an artist about their art, when they are standing right next to it?
 

Before leaving the park, Browder invited the group over to a patch of herbs, and asked them to perform a little ritual with her.
 

“This is heartbreaking history to talk about, and it takes a piece out of me every time I do. I am doing fewer and fewer of these talks, and Monday is supposed to be my day off. But for the Gordon School, I’m here. So I ask you to do this with me.”
 

She had the students roll rub rosemary between their fingers, join her in some silent affirmations, and take a strong, deep breath.
 

It was an energizing shared moment to end a long day.

 

And yet. The day grew longer.
 

Browder was hosting Gordon for dinner. The expectation had been sandwiches in the park.

Instead, she led the group into a large house behind the park, filled with art and friendly faces.
 

A fresh, hot, vegetarian-friendly feast was set up in the kitchen: chicken, vegan goat stew, mac and cheese, collard and blackeyed peas and fried corn cakes. 

 

Students discovered the backyard, and the proceedings took on the air of a family picnic.
 

The students may have taken Mr. Griffin’s camera.
 

Then? A friend got on the mic and began to lead the group through line dances.
 

Then? Some choir practice.
 

Followed by extended duets.
 

And uplifting karaoke.
 

And more dancing.
 

Gordon expects a lot of the eighth grade, but the school never forgets that they are children.
 

And Michelle Browder is part of that team now, pushing Gordon young people with challenging ideas, but remembering to let them play as well.

It was joyful and dreamy and these eighth graders will be tired tonight.

 

Ahead to day two

Hundreds more photos from today

More on Gordon's Civil Rights Trip