Civil Rights Pilgrimage Day 2: The Beloved Community

May 28, 2011

Civil Rights Pilgrimage Day 2: The Beloved Community

Today we traveled from Birmingham to Selma to Montgomery to Atlanta. We visited the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma and the Civil Rights Memorial at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery. Along the way we met a family from New York and a man named Mr. Otis who participated in the 5 day march from Selma to Montgomery. Both museums had interesting exhibits featuring photos, articles and videos from the late 50's and 60's. WE will spare you a long winded play by play of our day, but we do want to share 3 observations/experiences that had the strongest impact of our day.

First, I feel like we need to explain the principles of nonviolence. Nonviolence is not pacifism. It is an active form a resistance in which one seeks to remove the barriers of oppression by building connections and relationships with those who are oppressing. Redemption and reconciliation are the end goals of a nonviolent movement. The nonviolent person choses to love instead of hate, recognizes that all life in interrelated, and strives to build a "beloved community." This concept of the Beloved Community stood out to us. In our society we are so quick to label people who are different from us as "the other," and are content with never interacting with them. The Beloved Community embraces the ideals of ubuntu, and calls us to reach out to understand our neighbors and to support them. In the Beloved Community we embrace our common humanity and do what we can to help others live better lives.

Second, we met a man at the First Baptist Church named Mr. Otis. He participated in the 5 day Selma to Montgomery march in 1965. Mr. Otis told us that he did not participate in the earlier attempts of the Selma to Montgomery marches because he did not believe that he could maintain a nonviolent attitude during the marches. The marchers were given strict instructions not to defend themselves or fight back against physical violence. He could not embrace the idea of accepting suffering without physical violence... until the events of Bloody Sunday. March 7th 1965 in the first attempt to march to Montgomery from Selma, 600 marchers were greeted at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge by state and local police armed with billy clubs and tear gas. When the marchers refused to turn back the police mob attacked the peaceful marchers who took the abuse without retaliation. Mr. Otis said he was so moved by the marchers' actions that he could find it in himself to embrace a nonviolent attitude in order to complete the next march attempt. Mr. Otis' tale was pretty incredible in and of itself. We continued talking with him and observed that the principles of nonviolence were hard to embrace now in the 21st century. He replied that we were right, but that we needed to imagine how difficult it was to be nonviolent when people are trying to kill you. That statement brought us back to reality.

Third, the flesh and blood of the Civil Rights Movement was not the actions of MLK and other big name leaders, but by the unknown men and women who did not receive the Noble Peace Prize. This quote from the Southern Poverty Law Center sums it up:

"Most of those who made the Civil Rights Movement weren't famous; they were faceless. There weren't the noted; they were the nameless - the unknown women and men who risked job and home and life. Let us gather here not in recrimination, but in reconciliation, remembrance, and renewed resolve."

- Julian Bonds

It is hard to write about all of our emotions and thoughts because we are experiencing so many and often they are complex and hard to articulate. However, there is an overwhelming sense of humility that washes over us every time we walk around a site, hear someone's story, or see pictures of teenagers and octogenarians, blacks and whites, clergy and laity walking for a cause that eventually changed a nation. Words cannot adequately describe it. One must experience it.