This is a
compilation of the activities from the past three summers.
Of course, your itinerary
will vary slightly
DAY ONE ATLANTA – MONTGOMERY – BIRMINGHAM
Pay
tribute at the grave sight of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – Drink your way around
the world at the Coca Cola Museum – Understand Anti-Semitism at the sight where
Leo Frank was lynched - Discuss the courage to take a stand and start a movement
at the Rosa Parks Museum – Hear about hate groups at the Southern Poverty Law
Center – Relive the fight for Civil Rights at Freedom Park with someone who
participated in the protests – 16th Street Church – Free time in Five
Points
DAY TWO MEMPHIS
Birth home of Elvis – Understand how rock and roll helped
mainstream America get involved in the Civil Rights struggle at the Museum of
Rock and Soul – Gibson Guitar Factory – Walking tour of Beale Street – Listen to
the blues in music halls on Beale Street.
DAY THREE MEMPHIS and LITTLE ROCK
Graceland – Relive the beginnings of rock and roll at Sun Studios – Understand
the entire movement at the Civil Rights Museum – See where 9 teens started
desegregating America at Central High School
DAY FOUR DALLAS
Discuss legacy of John F. Kennedy at Grassy Knoll - Sixth
Floor Museum – Listen to the conspiracies surrounding the assassination of JFK
at the Conspiracy Museum – Argue the issue of abortion with members of the right
to life organization, Operation Rescue and pro-choice, NARAL
DAY FIVE & SIX OKLAHOMA CITY
Learn about the struggle for equality at the Women’s
Museum – Hear about the bombing of the federal Murra Federal building from a
survivor of the blast and learn about the militia movement from a member of the
Oklahoma City militia – go out with some local teens –
Discuss the treatment of Native Americans with a “Native
American Patriot”
DAY SEVEN DODGE CITY
Relive our frontier past at Boothill
DAY EIGHT, NINE & TEN DENVER and BOULDER
Debate environmental issues with the Sierra Club – see a
movie at Red Rocks National Park – Visit America’s only Buddhist college, Naropa
Institute – discuss the history of the beatniks and Jack Kerouac at the Jack
Kerouac Institute of Disembodied Poets - Free time on Pearl Street - Learn how
to give back by performing social action with Ranya Kelley - Debate the second
amendment while sitting in front of Columbine High School with a gun control
advocate who is the father of a boy who was shot at Columbine - play at Six
Flags – Explore the gay marriage issue with the Lt. Governor of Colorado
DAY ELEVEN SALT LAKE CITY
Discuss the issues of school vouchers as well as the
separation of church and state with the ACLU -tour the Mormon Church – meet with
the NRA - see a rock and roll laser show
DAY TWELVE & THIRTEEN ZION NATIONAL PARK
Hike and explore Zion National Park - discuss drilling in
Alaska and the preservation movement - relax at the pool - go star gazing at
night - celebrate the 4th of July with fireworks - enjoy nature at
it’s most beautiful - have Friday nights services outside in the awesome scenery
DAY FOURTEEN GRAND CANYON
Hike some of the canyon - experience the majesty of the
Grand Canyon
DAY FIFTEEN & SIXTEEN LAS VEGAS
Discuss issues concerning water usage at Hoover Dam -
explore the sights of the Las Vegas strip at night - see Cirque Du Soleil -
relax at the hotel pool – see the comedian Carrot Top – laugh with Penn & Teller
DAY SEVENTEEN & EIGHTEEN LOS ANGELES
Discuss power, hatred, and tolerance at the Museum of
Tolerance - explore Hollywood – see “The Producers” with Martin Short and Jason
Alexander – experience the atmosphere and interview people on Venice Beach –
discuss race relations in South Central – discuss the war on drugs and the issue
of legalization at a synagogue for former addicts and prisoners with a DEA
agent, a representative from the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws
– have dinner with the congregants and hear their stories – play at the Santa
Monica Piers with local teens
DAY NINETEEN THE CALIFORNIA COAST
Tour the Hearst Castle – see and play on America’s most
beautiful coastline
DAY TWENTY & TWENTY ONE SAN FRANCISCO
Learn how young people can be empowered to create change
while exploring Berkeley – Visit the old beatnik haunts in North Beach and
understand the impact of illiteracy at City Lights Bookstore with a man who
learned to read at the age of 45 – tour Alcatraz and learn about the Red Power
movement – relive the 60s in Haight Ashbury – discuss the war on AIDS and
Judaism’s struggle with homosexuality with ACTUP – hear about the Free Trade
movement and why people protest the WTO and World Bank – Fly to Chicago
DAY TWENTY TWO & TWENTY THREE CHICAGO
Look out over Chicago at the Sears Tower – indulge in
deep dish pizza at Ginos East – meet with a leader of the 1970s radical group
“The Weathermen”, who bombed federal buildings to protest the Vietnam war - see
Chicago from a boat tour – experience Wrigley Field – relax by Lake Michigan –
laugh at Improv Comedy – debate the First Amendment and the power/responsibility
of the press with a professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of
Journalism – walk around the Chicago Art Institute – Learn about the riots of
the 1968 Democratic Convention where they happened at Grant Park
DAY TWENTY FOUR AKRON & CLEVELAND
Experience the turmoil of May 4, 1970 at Kent State where
4 students were killed while protesting the Vietnam War with a tour of the site
guided by a man who survived the shooting – understand the impact of music at
the Rock and Roll Museum
DAY TWENTY FIVE – TWENTY SEVEN NEW YORK CITY
Experience a Bruce Springsteen concert at the Meadowlands
in New Jersey – relive our ancestors journey to America at Ellis Island and the
Statue of Liberty – discuss immigration and assimilation at the Museum of Jewish
Heritage – feel the impact of Ground Zero – talk about the need to combine
commerce and compassion on Wall Street – celebrate Shabbat at Bnai Jeshurun –
eat at the Second Avenue Deli – explore Greenwich Village, Little Italy,
Chinatown and the Lower East Side – relax in Central Park – see “Avenue Q” and
“Rent” on Broadway – have authentic New York bagels at H&H bagels – tour the
United Nations and understand their mission.
DAY TWENTY EIGHT - THIRTY BOSTON
See Blue Man Group – have an authentic Italian dinner in
the North End – walk the Freedom Trail free time in Fanuel Hall and Quincy
Market – reflect at Walden Pond – wander around Harvard Square – explore the
beginnings of democracy at Harvard – meet with communists at Revolutionary
Bookstore – tour the John F. Kennedy Library
DAY THIRTY ONE PHILADELPHIA
See Dave Matthews in concert - Celebrate and debate the
Constitution at the Constitution Museum see the Liberty Bell – play with some
young children at a homeless shelter and discuss the homeless situation in
America – free time on South Street – enjoy the “Lights of Liberty” light show
DAY THIRTY TWO – THIRTY FIVE WASHINGTON DC
Meet with Rep. John Lewis who was a leader of the Civil
Rights movement and Dr. martin Luther King’s right hand man – Rep. Barney Frank
who is the first open gay congressman and a leader on the issues of campaign
finance reform and legalization of marijuana – meet with your Congressional
representatives – Jubilee USA who want to forgive third world debt - Greenpeace
who work on environmental issues – NORML who want to legalize marijuana -
Amnesty International who work on human right issues - the Religious Action
Center who are the Reform Movement political action group – AIPAC who promote
American and Israeli relations – be in the audience for CNN “Crossfire” –
interview protestors in front of the White House - visit the Korean and Vietnam
War Memorials and meet with some veterans – explore the Smithsonian Museums and
the Holocaust Museum – walk through the Roosevelt and Lincoln Monuments – laugh
at the Capitol Steps Comedy troupe – meet with Republican Political consultants
– reflect on this political experiment we call America and democracy at the
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
DAY THIRTY SIX CHARLOTTE
Relax and wrap up party
SEE –
EXPERIENCE – GET INVOLVED
