The start of our own pilgrimage

Today marks the beginning of our long awaited for Civil Rights Pilgrimage. I am so excited to go on this trip, to learn more about a movement I have been fascinated in when I was younger, to meet all of the other participants, and to eat some Southern comfort food. I feel like this last week I have truly been anticipating the trip, especially because of all that I have already been learning while taking the WMNS 222 class. I initially was only going to go on the trip but then found out that I could get all of my cultural diversity credits done and man am I glad I decided to take the class. Without taking the class, I don't think I would have been able to truly learn about the struggles that black women went through and the strength they had to put aside gender discrimination in order to further the bigger picture of race equality.

When I was younger I was fascinated by the civil rights movement and the great things and struggles that people did and went through in order to gain simple rights and equality. At that point in my life I greatly equated Martin Luther King, Jr. to the movement and didn't really know about the efforts of others let alone women. This course has allowed me to see who the true organizers and fighters of the movement were, and to be inspired to be able to accomplish some of the same things in my life. I am so excited to see what learning more will do to my outlook and to my life.

Well tomorrow we will be in Atlanta, GA. We will have the chance to see some of the same monuments, museums, and landmarks that I did when I was in elementary school and had MLK Jr. as my hero. I'm excited to see how these places will cause me to feel and what they will teach me after the years of life I have experienced. All of these things and others I will keep writing about throughout the trip.

It's nearly time to make some lifelong and life changing memories, and hopefully some lifelong friends along the way!