SW Virginia News

Appalachian Center for Civic Life at Emory & Henry College Takes Students and Community Members on Civil Rights Spring Break Trip

The Appalachian Center for Civic Life at Emory & Henry College is leading a spring break trip for Emory & Henry College students in Alabama, taking 27 students and more than 15 community members from the Emory campus through the history of the Civil Rights Movement beginning on Saturday, March 4.

The planning and organization of the Civil Rights spring break was a collaborative effort involving Director of the Appalachian Center for Civic Life Dr. Scott Sikes, Bonner Scholar Coordinator Bradley Hartsell, Coordinator of Civic Life Leah Wilson, Assistant Professor of Music–Voice and Theory Dr. Jessica Spafford and Assistant Athletic Director Kyle Sensabaugh as well as community members Bill Huber, Joanne Groseclose and Patricia Warren. The Civil Rights spring break trip begins in Marion, Ala., the hometown of Coretta Scott King. “We’re meeting with a number of folks from Siloam Baptist Church, a congregation that’s very active in racial and social justice, to have dinner,” said Sikes.After visiting Marion, Ala. and the Siloam Baptist Church, Sikes and the mixed group of community members and Emory & Henry students will travel to Selma, Ala. for the commemoration of the bridge march, also called the Selma march, and Bloody Sunday. The bridge march was a demonstration to ensure that African Americans could exercise their constitutional right to vote in the face of a system that worked to make such a thing impossible. The march culminated in the events of Bloody Sunday, a violent attack on the protestors who were marching from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. by state troopers.“This trip is an educational opportunity for everyone involved,” said Sikes. “We hope that everyone will learn something new, be able to ask challenging questions and build common ground.”Following the commemoration of the Selma march, the Emory & Henry spring break group will continue on to Birmingham, Ala., to tour the 16th Street Baptist Church and participate in a service project with an organization called The Community Kitchens. The group will also tour the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute before heading to Montgomery, Ala., to visit the Freedom Rides Museum.On the final day of the trip, the group will visit the Equal Justice Initiative, including the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala. “Our goals include ensuring an intergenerational trip and providing an opportunity for students and community members to interact and engage in reflection and discussion about the places we are visiting,” said Sikes.The Civil Rights spring break trip received financial support from the congregation of Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Marion, Va. To learn more about the Appalachian Center for Civic Life, visit https://www.ehc.edu/appalachiancenter

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