On this date 20 years ago I made a personal pilgrimage to Montgomery to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, recognized as the beginning of the 20th century Civil Rights Movement of mass protest in December of 1955. Alone on a cool and cloudy afternoon, I visited the Holt Street site where thousands gathered on those December nights to organize for direct action. Later that night I joined hundreds of others at the Ripley Street First Baptist Church for the celebration.
Every historical commemoration is an opportunity for moral education. 60 years ago at the Voting Rights March in 1965, Martin Luther King famously cited the quote that ...
The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
Some leaders and some movements pose setbacks and serious threats to our moral consciousness, but hope and faith in love and in the power of beloved community motivates us to press on.
I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3:12
As a young adult I was only minimally aware of my own racism and privilege, but the combination of being imbedded in a racially diverse community (i.e. attending public schools and living in a southern small town), developing young adult relationships with people from other cultures, and diligently seeking personal growth and change through my faith gradually led me to grow and evolve in moral, spiritual, and political awareness. Several close friends pushed me along in that journey, including black, Caribbean and African individuals, and later other friends of diverse cultural perspectives.
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| Tremont Temple, Boston |
As for Holt Street Baptist Church, in the intervening years Rev. Dr. Willie McClung has converted the old church into a museum and educational space, prominent and visible from the intersection of I65 and I85 in downtown Montgomery. About five blocks away is found the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, also known as a memorial to victims of lynching, opened in 2018.
The Equal Justice Initiative, founded by Bryan Stevenson in 1989, represents some of the best ongoing work in bringing our nations history to bear upon our moral education in the 21st century. The National Memorial, Legacy Museum, and Freedom Monument Sculpture Park have all been opened in the past decade to expand this work of historical education.
The Legacy Sites of Equal Justice Initiative
I tell my story along with essays on Civil Rights History, the history of the 19 century movement for the abolition of slavery, and other reflections on religion and culture in the 21st century in my book Deconstructing Christians and the Third Wave: Unstoppable Beloved Community, available in print, electronic and audible formats from Amazon.
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Deconstructing Christians and the Third Wave