HCZ students from our various afterschool programs traveled over 1,000 miles from home to Montgomery, Alabama. The trip was timed to celebrate Black History Month and over the course of three days students visited the Civil Rights Memorial Center, Legacy Museum, Freedom Rides Museum, Rosa Parks Museum, and walked over the iconic Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.
Learning more about the civil rights movement in Montgomery brought up so many emotions for our students – proud, sad, angry, frustrated, motived, determined. This was especially true when students visited the new National Memorial for Peace and Justice, shown in the photos below, where they took in this powerful memorial symbolizing thousands of racial terror lynching victims. While difficult at times, students told us how grateful they were to have that opportunity.
Beyond what it meant to be in Montgomery, it was memorable for many of our students who had never traveled so far from home. There were a lot of firsts; flying in an airplane, staying in a hotel, seeing the south and eating different types of food, it was truly an experience they will never forget.
Thank you for supporting HCZ and the 13,000 young people we work with every year. We would not be able to do trips like this and go the extra mile for our students if we didn’t have the loyal support of generous individuals like you.
Watch the short video above to hear directly from our students what they thought about the experience.