Saying Goodbye to Civil Rights Tours

This will be my last year regularly leading civil rights tours through the Deep South. I’ve always said that I identify more as an educator than as a tour operator, and since the onset of the pandemic, I’ve leaned into that. However, it’s with deep appreciation for the opportunity I had to be a part of transformative travel for so many people that I look forward to this transition.

For 10 incredible years, I personally accompanied more than 800 people to locations in Alabama, Mississippi, Memphis, and more sites sacred to abolitionist and social-movement history. We began with the Underground Railroad and then shifted to the South.

We intentionally framed our travel to the Deep South as immersive learning experiences in the spirit of the strategic southern campaigns of Black-led resistance to and the defeat of Jim Crow.

By combining reflective facilitation with expert talks on and off the bus, I witnessed participants gain a deeper understanding of and greater context for the sites they visited. I’ve also seen them connect this history to the calls to action for racial justice today.

I have learned so much about experiential learning, relationship-building, and keeping history close to the heart. The tour work has been a gift, and the lessons and friends I have made traveling miles by bus will last a lifetime.

I am deeply grateful for the civil rights movement elders who have taken time to meet with my groups over the years. These trailblazers include Ms. Catherine Burks-Brooks, Mr. Charles “Mac” McLaurin, Ms. Sheyann Webb, Rev. Frederick D. Reese*, Mr. Hollis Watkins, Ms. Joann Bland, Ms. Gwendolyn Patton*, Mr. Charles “Chuck” McDew*, Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Ms. Brenda Travis, Mr. Hezekiah Watkins, Ms. Carolyn Maull McKinstry, Ms. Rugenia Henry (my mom), and many more leaders of local movements today and yesterday.

We also received invaluable guidance and inspiration from Dr. Fannie Rushing, Martha Bouyer, and Noel Didla, as well as key historical knowledge and framing from Dr. Charles Payne and Dr. Charles Cobb, both of whom were particularly critical to the success of the epic tour we took to Mississippi to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer.

Photos left to right, from the movement and recently of three incredible Civil Rights elders: Ms. Catherine Burks-Brooks, Mr. Hollis Watkins and Ms. Brenda Travis.

My sincerest thanks to all of the educators, students, clergy, activists, and families who trusted me to take them on these journeys. It has been an incredible decade that will always be a part of Freedom Lifted’s history and inform the work I do for the rest of my life. 

*Denotes those who had gone on to be with the ancestors at the time of this article’s publication.