The Adventure Begins

The start of our trip took us on a journey into the Civil Rights Movement and an ancient Mississippian Native community.

We spent the first day in Birmingham Alabama and visited the staging area for the Civil Rights demonstrations in the 1960s. We visited the historic 16th Street Baptist Church where Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. led the non-violent demonstrations throughout the city and it also was the site where four girls were killed when the church was bombed. We walked in Kelly Ingram Park and saw statues that depicted the dogs attacking the protesters and the fire cannons used against children. It provided us with a somber moment in US history with the powerful images and bravery the people (including the children) had to challenge segregation and racism.

16^th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, AL

16^th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. Pictured above, Ken Ridgway, Dawn Marsh, Josh Jefferies, Alaina Bryant, Darryl Reano, and Buster Landin.

The next day we stopped at Moundville Archaeological Park in Tuscaloosa Alabama. This was the second largest city of the Mississippian Native community who are believed to be the ancestors of the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Cherokee and Seminole. Good look into the history of Native Americans and early evidence of their strong spiritual connection with Mother Earth.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Dawn Marsh, Josh Jefferies, and 
Buster Landin walking upstairs to the 
top of the mound at Moundville 
Archaeological Park, Tuscaloosa, AL.

Felica Ahasteen-Bryant
Director, NAECC