By Ben Pisik

We woke up at 8:15 AM and were all surprised to see the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile outside our hotel. It was funny to hear everyone sing their song.

Our first stop was Graceland, the mansion where Elvis lived when he became famous. We got our headphones and started our guided tour. Now I have been to mansions like the Biltmore in Asheville, NC, but Graceland was the coolest of them all. It had the most unique rooms, including a jungle room, a meditation garden and a billiards room. I learned a lot about the King of Rock and Roll in the last few days. First of all, I did not know he was born in a tiny shotgun shack and died in a multi-acre mansion. I also had no idea the impact he had on the Civil Rights era and was a good and moral person. I grew up learning that Elvis was just a successful musician who died of a drug overdose. Well, I was proven wrong! I had no idea that he gave large sums of money to charity, read a lot and was his own producer. I have a newfound respect for Elvis Presley after seeing Graceland.

We then went to the Mississippi River, where we were able to just see it in all its majesty.

After spending a few minutes at the river we went to the Lorraine Motel/National Civil Rights Museum. Before going in Billy, had us read some quotes from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel who was one of the main Rabbis involved in the Civil Rights struggle. He marched with Dr. King in Selma, Alabama. My personal favorite quote was “in a free society, some are guilty but all are responsible.” The museum itself gave a detailed history of the Civil Rights movement and of the assassination of Dr. King.

Outside the museum, Ezra spoke to us about the issue of gentrification and we debated it’s pros and cons. This prepared us to meet with Jacqueline Smith, a woman who has set up a booth outside the Civil Rights museum in order to protest the museum. Her argument is that Dr. King would have rather had the city spend all the money they used to build the museum and gentrify the area on the people that were displaced by this. She has been out there protesting every day for 20 years. Afterwards, on the bus, Billy asked us if we agreed with her. Our bus was split about 50/50 but we all respected the fact that she was so committed to the cause. I agreed with her because I think if the museum was dedicated to Dr. King it should be more in line with the work he was trying to do.

We then took a two hour ride to Little Rock, Arkansas. Our first stop was at Central High School which was one of the main schools that began the integration movement. We had a discussion on the tension in America about state vs. local government. I learned so many things that I have never known about our government. Joel’s discussion on this topic really made me think. It was great how we were sitting at the high school where such historical events happened and that was at the center of state vs. federal law arguments.

Once we got to the hotel we went swimming and had dinner poolside. Turns out I ate food from the same restaurant in two different states….very cool!

We ended our day in downtown Little Rock. We had our daily wrap up sitting in a park overlooking the Arkansas River. From their comments, everyone mentioned that they loved the Memphis culture. After wrap up, we finally saw the reason for the city’s namesake. To our surprise, it was named after a little rock! To tell the truth, it was one of the most unimpressive things I have ever seen. Overall, day 5 was a blast!