About 30 Charlotte residents will travel to Montgomery, Alabama, later this month for a three-day pilgrimage focused on civil rights history and its impact on society today.
The initiative, called "Legacy to Liberation: An LGBTQ Community Pilgrimage," aims to connect participants with the history of African American resilience and resistance in the Deep South.
"Places where Black people lived and thrived and also were terrorized but found a way to get through," said Jermaine Nakia Lee, one of the founders of Charlotte Black Pride and the organizer of the pilgrimage.
Participants will visit several historic sites, including the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum, which examine the history of lynching, enslavement and ongoing efforts to overcome discrimination in the United States.
Lee said Montgomery was selected because of its significance to the civil rights movement.
"Significant moments in civil rights took place in Montgomery, so everything from the Montgomery Bus Boycott, just what we understand to be modern civil rights organizing, mass nonviolent resistance, community-based activism, that really took place under the leadership of notables like Dr. Martin Luther King, amazing people like Rosa Parks," Lee said.
The trip is intended to help participants connect lessons from that history to present-day challenges faced by those part of minority groups.
"By traveling to Montgomery and engaging the stories of those who confronted oppression with courage, faith and collective action, we're basically returning not simply to remember the history, but to reclaim the wisdom needed to navigate the challenges facing people of color and LGBTQ people today," Lee said.
Community members are scheduled to carpool to Montgomery on Aug. 28.
