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John Jay Honors Students at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice
John Jay Honors Students Visit Alabama for Civil Rights 2020 Trip

As scholars immersed in a justice-focused education, our Honors students on the Alabama Civil Rights Trip learned about the history of race in America by looking through the lens of the African-American experience. They retraced the steps of current Congressman John Lewis and the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when they walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. They confronted our country’s painful civil rights past at The National Voting Rights Museum, The Civil Rights Memorial, and The Southern Poverty Law Center. And, they faced the legacy of racial terror in our country at the Equal Justice Initiative/The National Memorial for Peace and Justice/The Legacy Museum. At the end of every day, they shared their reflections, unpacked their thoughts, and articulated their feelings about what they saw and learned. And, this heightened awareness of the civil rights movement reminded them of our intertwined history—be it Latinx history, LGBTQ+ history, or Native American history. The student projects shared here illustrate the growth of our students and their full appreciation of where we need to go in the future.