CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT ALABAMA RESEARCH TOUR - POST 3 OF 3
After we finished in Selma, our next stop was Montgomery. We boarded the coach just after noon and we arrived in the mid afternoon. We got off outside the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and got the opportunity to walk around Montgomery for a little while, before we all met up at the Civil Rights Memorial a few blocks away. As soon as I got off the bus, I was drawn towards this scene above. It is the lead up to the Alabama State Capitol building. I especially like the mural on the road in the foreground that signifies the many steps people took when they marched from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights in 1965. I stood in the middle of the road and angled my camera downwards to capture the mural just ahead of me, in an attempt to create more depth in the photograph. I also like this image because it shows Montgomery at a relatively 'quite' and empty time.
We then reconvened outside the Civil Rights Memorial. As a group we stood around the fountain and placed our hands on it as the water was flowing beneath. Then we began reading the various captions that were inscribed on the fountain. The most prominent caption in my eye line referred to a moment when President Eisenhower sent federal troops in to protect and accompany 9 African American school children as they attended a newly desegregated school in Little Rock Arkansas.
This trip to Alabama, was a really good experience for me, not only was I able to learn more about Black History in America, I was able to photograph some historic places in a way that brings what I learnt about in history class at school to life. I got the opportunity to personally speak to (and photograph) two former foot soldiers that took part in the march from Selma to Montgomery. I will never forget this experience; I am feeling very inspired and encouraged to learn more about the Black Freedom Struggle.