Hey Mom and Dad! Today began the first day of our odyssey across the great continent. We set out at the very crack of dawn at 8:30. This was quite a change from the typical 2:00 PM wake up. The Fairfield Inn has a nice continental breakfast and the coolest coffee machine I’ve ever seen in my life! We boarded the bus, which has now been affectionately dubbed the “Big Blue Jew Canoe” or “Big Blue” for short.
Our first stop before leaving Atlanta was a trip to visit the gravesite of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The grave is located in the middle of a pool in Sweet Auburn—an important section of town in Dr. King’s life. This would prove to be an appropriate beginning for our journey as the first leg of Etgar is concerned primarily with Civil Rights, race relations, and the challenges (or etgarim!) we face with intolerance in the country.
 

After pulling out of the Peach State, our next destination was Alabama’s capital city, Montgomery, which is also home to one of the capitals of the Confederacy. Our first destination here was the Rosa Parks Museum. It was an incredible feeling to depart the bus on the very same spot where a weary Rosa Parks boarded the bus that would seal her place in American history books forever. In the museum was a worldwide traveling art exhibit on its last leg that enthralled several art enthusiasts on our bus. After this, we watched a video on the Civil Rights and a video reenactment of Rosa Parks’s famous bus ride. Outside of the museum we had a group discussion about personal attempts to bring change and whether or not the fact that some believe the Parks incident was set up diminishes the importance of her actions. A group consensus, however, was never reached.

As I write this on the way up to Birmingham, I think we can all agree our favorite part of today thus far has without a doubt been Martha’s Place—a restaurant in downtown Montgomery with an incredible story. The greatest lemonade to ever touch my lips, true southern fried chicken, and creamy mashed potatoes made this stop even more memorable. Martha Hawkins, who had just returned from Washington, D.C. where she received a national leadership award from President Bush, discussed her life’s incredible turnaround from the depths of depression and suicide attempts to the fulfillment of the dream of owning a restaurant. Ms. Hawkins, a highly spiritual woman, taught us to recognize the potential and opportunities available to us. On a personal note, this seemed to echo very well something my parents have especially been trying to stress to me as I come closer to college and entry to the real world.

After Martha’s Place and a mad dash back to the Rosa Parks museum where I left behind a camera and a hat (sorry Mom!), we went to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which, by the way, has the most comfortable chairs ever. We were introduced to this massive national network that monitors hate groups. Our discussion here covered affirmative action issues at places like the University of Michigan and the active recruitment of Jews in other places like Vanderbilt University. We also talked about the beauty of freedom of speech in the United States as well as relations between blacks and Jews. For many of us, it was a surprise to learn of the importance of Jews to the civil rights movement—some of whom made the ultimate sacrifice of life to assure basic freedoms for African Americans.

Finally we stopped at a civil rights monument and took in a photography exhibit of Spider Martin at the Alabama state archives building. Martin’s concentration revolved around various civil rights abuses and activist movements throughout the mid twentieth century. We can all agree that this took a lot longer than it should have but powerful nonetheless. And now we’re traveling up the rickety interstate to Birmingham where I’m holding onto the computer for dear life.
 

We’re all incredibly anxious to hear from our next generous speaker. But this is where I’ll leave it for now. Thank you very much for allowing me to take part in such a mind-blowing experience. It’s only been one day, yet I already feel a positive growth as I absorb everything I see and hear. This can definitely be said for the group as a whole.

Wishing you were here to experience this with me, - Eric F. (17 yrs old from Knoxville, TN)