I like to write.
For a long time, I have wanted to publish a book. I’ve got enough material to probably publish three books. The problem is I lack the courage to let people read the stuff I write. You see, English was never my strong suit. In high school, I barely passed my classes. In college, I had to take the remedial class just to get accepted. Tomorrow morning, on this website, I will publish my first short story. The story is about an adventure I took last year. On the outside chance you read it, you have been warned. I am positive that you will find several instances of an “is” where there should have been an “are” and a “was” where there should have been a “were”. You’ll probably find misplaced commas and sentence fragments too. Please look past all of that. I’m learning. For now, I write like I talk. Again, I’m learning.
To set up the story I wrote, on May 4th of last year I pressed “Post” on this Facebook post right as I was leaving the American Airlines gate in Dallas. I knew that I was in for an adventure, but I had no idea it would change me in the way that it did. Stand by for the story that followed this post.
May 4th 2016 Facebook Post
Back in January I made mention that I was working on a plan for a new adventure. Well that adventure begins now.
Most of you know that I have a niece and two nephews who are black. Often, I have thought about their futures. I worry about them. Martin Luther King said, “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Unfortunately, this day has yet to come.
One rainy Saturday this past January, I was bored. I was working on some spreadsheets for work. To break up the boredom I decided I would find something on The List I could check off. Partway down the list it said, Research the news that happened on the day you were born.
The headlines from July 22, 1966, looked pretty much like the headlines today; 11 year old Negro boy shot by police and MLK calls for peace, Dean Foods agrees to hire 45 more Negroes… As I was doing my research a show came on PBS. The show was about race relations in the 1960’s. The more I watched, the more my eyes were opened to the absolute atrocities committed against black people in the south around 1965. They wanted to vote. They wanted to use the same water fountains as whites. They wanted to enter restaurants through the front door. They wanted to sit anywhere on the bus they wanted. It is hard to believe this, but all of this stuff happened in my lifetime. It was not that long ago. How dehumanizing this must have been.
They say you can never understand another person’s struggle until you walk a mile in their shoes. Between now and Monday the 7th I plan to walk not one mile, but 54 miles. I am going to hike the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. I will be by myself and self-supported. The trail largely follows Alabama Highway 80. I’ve got a pack, a tent and a sleeping bag. Past that, I will figure it out when I figure it out.
Why this trail and why now? Quick history refresher. On March 7, 1965, Alabama State Troopers beat and turned back about 600 people who were walking from Selma to the Alabama State Capitol in peaceful protest. They were protesting because they were not being allowed to vote. The clash happened at a bridge leading out of Selma. About 50 people were beat that day by police. They used night sticks and cattle prods on the crowd. A couple of weeks before the march, a man named Jimmie Jackson was peacefully protesting when he and his mother ran into a diner to escape the police who were once again openly beating protesters in the street. An Alabama State Trooper named James Fowler shot Jimmie. Jimmie was unarmed. He died a week later. The trooper that shot him was not indicted until 2007.
So my plan is to hike the trail in reverse because I want to arrive in Selma and walk across the bridge where they beat those people on the 51st anniversary of the event that is now called Bloody Sunday.
At this moment I’m boarding a flight to Montgomery. When I land, I will make a quick supply stop. After that I will make my way over to the steps of the Alabama Capitol. From the steps of the Capitol is where I will officially begin my walk. What happens after this is kind of up in the air. I plan to tent camp along the route. It will take a couple of days to complete. I hope I can find some place for me to pitch a tent. If not, I will figure it out. Once I leave Montgomery there is one small place to eat and a couple of gas stations. If my old man legs will carry me, Monday morning I will walk in to Selma and cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Once in Selma, I figure I will check out some historic sites around and then grab a rental car or hop on the Greyhound back to Montgomery. My flight back to Dallas leaves in the afternoon. On my way back to Montgomery, there is a national park with an interpretive center that is packed full of history relating to the marches that took place. I will stop here.
On almost every long hike I have ever went on, I come back changed and slightly different than when I started; usually for the better.
So why am I doing this? I’m not completely sure, but I do feel oddly drawn to follow this path. Perhaps immersing myself into the history will allow me to be better equipped to relate to my niece and nephews as well as other people who face discrimination. Who knows, maybe at some point in the future when my niece or nephews path is being blocked due to the color of their skin, maybe Uncle Chris’ journey will inspire them to push forward and not give up.
As I always say, Live Your Life.