PLEASE READ THIS BULLETIN CAREFULLY AS IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE THE PILGRIMAGE.
STAFF
This Pilgrimage will be expertly guided by six incredible staff members. They include:
We will meet in Memphis on Wednesday, October 18 at 4:00 pm CT for a welcome reception, orientation, and dinner, so plan to arrive with enough time to settle in and relax a little before things kick off. We’ll confirm the hotel information in our next communication to you.
FLIGHTS
If you’re flying, many of you will be able to arrange a flight on October 18th to Memphis International Airport (MEM) that will get you to the hotel in time for our 4 pm gathering. There is a free airport shuttle to the hotel.
AMTRAK AND BUSES
Memphis is serviced by Amtrak and by various bus lines. You will need to make your own arrangements to get to the hotel from the train or bus station.
DRIVING
If you drive to Memphis, you can leave your car without charge in the hotel parking lot for the duration of our trip. More information to come.
LEAVING FOR HOME AT THE END OF THE PILGRIMAGE
On our final day, Sunday, October 22, we will return to Memphis from Jackson. We will stop for lunch and our closing before dropping people at the airport and starting hotel for people to retrieve their cars.
IMPORTANT: If you plan to fly home on Sunday, Oct 22, do not schedule a flight before 4:00 pm. We probably won’t arrive at the Memphis airport until at least 2:00 that afternoon so give yourself enough time to comfortably make your flight.
ABOUT SCHOLARSHIPS
We encourage participants who have the resources to do so to contribute to our Scholarships Fund. A scholarship donation is an opportunity for individuals to take a concrete action toward healing the wounds of racism by making it possible for a person whose life has been impacted by color discrimination or economic disadvantage to participate in the Pilgrimage. Please donate so others can share this experience.
SCHOLARSHIP DONATION
PREPARING FOR THE TRIP
For you to get the most out of this experience, we hope you will do some advance reading and video watching. Our website offers many resources (see Resources) covering both history and current developments in civil rights areas relevant to the stops. We thought we would highlight a few especially good sources that you might find in your library or bookstore.
BOOKS
Weary Feet, Rested Souls
We recommend that you purchase a copy of Weary Feet, Rested Souls by Townsend Davis to carry with you on the journey. It’s available from Amazon in print, both new and used copies, and Kindle editions, or you can order it from your favorite independent bookstore.
Although it was published in 1999, it contains the best history of many of the sites we’ll be visiting. Arranged by location, Weary Feet, Rested Souls describes key places we will visit, including maps, Movement history, photos and quotes. It provides a good preliminary review of the significance of each site, and a helpful tool for remembering the sites and telling others about them back home. We will be telling you which pages describe each day’s itinerary.
MISSISSIPPI CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
We recommend that you explore one or more of these books about the movement in Mississippi.
Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project
Robert Moses, Charles E. Cobb - 2002
At a time when popular solutions to the educational plight of poor children of color are imposed from the outside-national standards, high-stakes tests, charismatic individual saviors-the acclaimed Algebra Project and its founder, Robert Moses, offer a vision of school reform based in the power of communities.
Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi
John Dittmer - 1994
Details the Black struggle for civil rights in Mississippi
I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle
Charles M. Payne - 2007
"With this history of the civil rights movement focusing on Everyman-turned-hero, the commoner as crusader for justice, Payne challenges the old idea that history is the biography of great men."--Kirkus Reviews
The Blood of Emmett Till
Tim Tyson – 2017
Part detective story, part political history, The Blood of Emmett Till “unfolds like a movie” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution), drawing on a wealth of new evidence, including a shocking admission of Till’s innocence from the woman in whose name he was killed. “
FILMS
Several films (available as video, DVD or both) are well worth watching on your own. Some are available through streaming services or your local library. We will be using some visual materials on the bus, but will not have the time to include all segments of these excellent resources:
Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years 1954-1965 by Henry Hampton - (available in a 3 DVD set) We will view the Mississippi segments on the bus as we’re traveling through the Delta where the story takes place, but all sections are well worth watching ahead of time.
Freedom Summer (American Experience – PBS) A documentary about Mississippi Freedom Summer, a plan hatched by Bob Moses, a local secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, by Keith Beauchamp – covers the murder and aftermath of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi in 1955.
Strange Fruit (2002) — the story behind Billie Holiday’s signature anti-lynching song examines the history of lynching, and the interplay of race, labor and the left, and popular culture that shaped the civil rights movement.
This is just a start. You’ll find more on our Resources page and many more with some searching around the Web.
TRIP PREPARATION DETAILS
TIME ZONE
Please note that we'll be on Central Time (UTC-06:00) throughout the trip so you might need to reset your watches when you arrive (and remember that your phone might automatically reset).
THE WEATHER
This time of year, Mississippi temperatures are typically in the mid to high 70s in the day and 50s at night. There’s always a possibility that we will get some rain and maybe even a thunderstorm, so it’s a good idea to bring a rain jacket and/or umbrella. As we get closer, be sure to check the weather forecast for Memphis and Jackson. That will give you a good idea of the weather in the region.
PACKING
Casual, comfortable clothes are fine. You probably want to pack a long sleeve shirt, sweater, or light jacket if you’re someone who gets cold easily.
Except in museums, you probably won’t be doing extensive walking on this trip, but we still recommend comfortable walking shoes.
Please limit yourself to one carry-on size suitcase (which will be stored underneath the bus and inaccessible during travel days) and one small bag to carry on the bus with you. A small tote bag or backpack works best to keep your stuff available to you on the bus.
Also, please remember to pack a water bottle. We will have some bottled water for those who need it but, for the environment's sake, we don't want to purchase more than we will consume.
LLP MERCH
While you’re packing, don’t forget to pack your LLP wear. Of course, you’ll have to buy one (or several) shirts first. Visit our store to purchase an LLP t-shirt, long-sleeve shirt, hoodie, or sweatshirt with the LLP tagline: Inspiring today’s work for racial justice with lessons from the Civil Rights Movement. It’s not only a memento of the trip, but also an important conversation starter about racial justice.
ORDER LLP WEAR HERE| BONFIRE
SLEEPING AIDS
And if you’re sharing a room, remember to pack your eyeshades and earplugs to manage lights and sounds that might impact your sleeping.
SCENTS
We also ask that you limit scents, i.e., perfume, cologne, and any extra scented things. If people have a sensitivity to scents, the close quarters of the bus could activate them. Also, be sure to check with your roommate before spraying anything in the room, burning a scented candle, etc.
CASH
It’s a good idea to have cash to leave a tip for the housekeeping staff. We generally recommend $3-5 per night. If you’re sharing a room, you can split that between you.
You might also want cash or credit cards for incidentals, gifts, snacks, etc. That should be all you need.
COVID-19 AND OTHER HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS
At this point, we highly recommend wearing masks in crowded indoor spaces, including on the bus, but this is optional. This might be modified as we determine what infection rates are in the cities and towns we’ll be visiting.
Although we do not require that you’ve had the updated (bivalent) vaccine booster, now is a good time to get it, if you’re so inclined. You also might want to bring hand sanitizer and extra vitamins, zinc, Airborne, or whatever else you use to fortify yourself.
We also highly recommend that you minimize contact with others in the two weeks before your departure. We’d hate for you to come down with COVID and have to cancel your trip, and we really don’t want to have anyone bring it on the bus with them.
SPECIAL DIETARY NEEDS
We make every effort to accommodate special dietary needs that you've made known to us when you registered. Our meals are not always at the same time every day, so if you need to eat on a schedule, or if you require anything else that you're concerned about not getting, please bring it with you. And remember to bring a water bottle. We’ll be contacting you before the trip about food choices for a few of the meals. Please respond promptly to our request for menu selections, so we can get the orders in.
MAKING MOST OF THE PILGRIMAGE EXPERIENCE
As you can see, the schedule is quite full, and the days are long. Unlike vacation tours when you have blocks of time to explore on your own, this is a sacred pilgrimage where, because of the people we'll meet and the places we'll visit, every minute is precious. We know it asks a lot of us, but we also know, from hundreds of people who have gone on this pilgrimage before you, they wouldn't trade a minute of it. When you return home after this trip, we hope you'll feel the same.
The key is to let the experience flow in you and through you without worrying about the clock. That's our job. We'll keep you informed about what's next and what to expect along the way. Your job is to breathe in as much as you can and let the experience take you where it will.
COMMUNICATING WITH FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND YOUR WORKPLACE
Because this is a sacred immersive experience, we encourage you to tell family, friends, and employers that, except for real emergencies, you are not available for these days. Put an out-of-office/away message on your email and your cell phone. Try as hard as you can to reduce distractions. We even encourage you to stay away from the news and social media, except, of course, when you're posting about the Pilgrimage (#LLP_MS2023)!
It will all be there when you return home. Give yourself these few days; make it as meaningful as you can. We guarantee you won't regret it.
GRATITUDE
Expressing gratitude is an integral part of developing relationships. We encourage you to bring thank-you cards with you and find other ways to express gratitude to those you meet along the way.
SOCIAL MEDIA/WRITING/PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEO
If you're into social media, we appreciate all the Facebooking, Instagramming, TikToking, tweeting, YouTubing, and blogging you want to share. We invite you to document as much of your journey as you want, from packing until you return home again, for the folks back home, for future pilgrims, and for your own memories, by following these guidelines:
We hope you’ll share your photos with us. We’ll set up a Google Photos folder where you can upload after you return home. Thank you!
QUESTIONS
If you have questions, please visit our website at 2023 Mississippi Living Legacy Pilgrimage - Living Legacy Project or feel free to e-mail us at [email protected].
STAFF
This Pilgrimage will be expertly guided by six incredible staff members. They include:
- Reggie Harris, Director of Music Education and Living Legacy Project Board Co-President
- Melanie DeMore, Music educator
- The Rev. Laura Ingersol, Civil Rights Movement educator and Living Legacy Project Board member
- Jan Sneegas, Civil Rights Movement educator and Living Legacy Project Co-President
- Myra Crawford, Tour Manager from Educational Travel Adventures (ETA)
- Driver to be named
We will meet in Memphis on Wednesday, October 18 at 4:00 pm CT for a welcome reception, orientation, and dinner, so plan to arrive with enough time to settle in and relax a little before things kick off. We’ll confirm the hotel information in our next communication to you.
FLIGHTS
If you’re flying, many of you will be able to arrange a flight on October 18th to Memphis International Airport (MEM) that will get you to the hotel in time for our 4 pm gathering. There is a free airport shuttle to the hotel.
AMTRAK AND BUSES
Memphis is serviced by Amtrak and by various bus lines. You will need to make your own arrangements to get to the hotel from the train or bus station.
DRIVING
If you drive to Memphis, you can leave your car without charge in the hotel parking lot for the duration of our trip. More information to come.
LEAVING FOR HOME AT THE END OF THE PILGRIMAGE
On our final day, Sunday, October 22, we will return to Memphis from Jackson. We will stop for lunch and our closing before dropping people at the airport and starting hotel for people to retrieve their cars.
IMPORTANT: If you plan to fly home on Sunday, Oct 22, do not schedule a flight before 4:00 pm. We probably won’t arrive at the Memphis airport until at least 2:00 that afternoon so give yourself enough time to comfortably make your flight.
ABOUT SCHOLARSHIPS
We encourage participants who have the resources to do so to contribute to our Scholarships Fund. A scholarship donation is an opportunity for individuals to take a concrete action toward healing the wounds of racism by making it possible for a person whose life has been impacted by color discrimination or economic disadvantage to participate in the Pilgrimage. Please donate so others can share this experience.
SCHOLARSHIP DONATION
PREPARING FOR THE TRIP
For you to get the most out of this experience, we hope you will do some advance reading and video watching. Our website offers many resources (see Resources) covering both history and current developments in civil rights areas relevant to the stops. We thought we would highlight a few especially good sources that you might find in your library or bookstore.
BOOKS
Weary Feet, Rested Souls
We recommend that you purchase a copy of Weary Feet, Rested Souls by Townsend Davis to carry with you on the journey. It’s available from Amazon in print, both new and used copies, and Kindle editions, or you can order it from your favorite independent bookstore.
Although it was published in 1999, it contains the best history of many of the sites we’ll be visiting. Arranged by location, Weary Feet, Rested Souls describes key places we will visit, including maps, Movement history, photos and quotes. It provides a good preliminary review of the significance of each site, and a helpful tool for remembering the sites and telling others about them back home. We will be telling you which pages describe each day’s itinerary.
MISSISSIPPI CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
We recommend that you explore one or more of these books about the movement in Mississippi.
Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project
Robert Moses, Charles E. Cobb - 2002
At a time when popular solutions to the educational plight of poor children of color are imposed from the outside-national standards, high-stakes tests, charismatic individual saviors-the acclaimed Algebra Project and its founder, Robert Moses, offer a vision of school reform based in the power of communities.
Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi
John Dittmer - 1994
Details the Black struggle for civil rights in Mississippi
I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle
Charles M. Payne - 2007
"With this history of the civil rights movement focusing on Everyman-turned-hero, the commoner as crusader for justice, Payne challenges the old idea that history is the biography of great men."--Kirkus Reviews
The Blood of Emmett Till
Tim Tyson – 2017
Part detective story, part political history, The Blood of Emmett Till “unfolds like a movie” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution), drawing on a wealth of new evidence, including a shocking admission of Till’s innocence from the woman in whose name he was killed. “
FILMS
Several films (available as video, DVD or both) are well worth watching on your own. Some are available through streaming services or your local library. We will be using some visual materials on the bus, but will not have the time to include all segments of these excellent resources:
Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years 1954-1965 by Henry Hampton - (available in a 3 DVD set) We will view the Mississippi segments on the bus as we’re traveling through the Delta where the story takes place, but all sections are well worth watching ahead of time.
Freedom Summer (American Experience – PBS) A documentary about Mississippi Freedom Summer, a plan hatched by Bob Moses, a local secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, by Keith Beauchamp – covers the murder and aftermath of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi in 1955.
Strange Fruit (2002) — the story behind Billie Holiday’s signature anti-lynching song examines the history of lynching, and the interplay of race, labor and the left, and popular culture that shaped the civil rights movement.
This is just a start. You’ll find more on our Resources page and many more with some searching around the Web.
TRIP PREPARATION DETAILS
TIME ZONE
Please note that we'll be on Central Time (UTC-06:00) throughout the trip so you might need to reset your watches when you arrive (and remember that your phone might automatically reset).
THE WEATHER
This time of year, Mississippi temperatures are typically in the mid to high 70s in the day and 50s at night. There’s always a possibility that we will get some rain and maybe even a thunderstorm, so it’s a good idea to bring a rain jacket and/or umbrella. As we get closer, be sure to check the weather forecast for Memphis and Jackson. That will give you a good idea of the weather in the region.
PACKING
Casual, comfortable clothes are fine. You probably want to pack a long sleeve shirt, sweater, or light jacket if you’re someone who gets cold easily.
Except in museums, you probably won’t be doing extensive walking on this trip, but we still recommend comfortable walking shoes.
Please limit yourself to one carry-on size suitcase (which will be stored underneath the bus and inaccessible during travel days) and one small bag to carry on the bus with you. A small tote bag or backpack works best to keep your stuff available to you on the bus.
Also, please remember to pack a water bottle. We will have some bottled water for those who need it but, for the environment's sake, we don't want to purchase more than we will consume.
LLP MERCH
While you’re packing, don’t forget to pack your LLP wear. Of course, you’ll have to buy one (or several) shirts first. Visit our store to purchase an LLP t-shirt, long-sleeve shirt, hoodie, or sweatshirt with the LLP tagline: Inspiring today’s work for racial justice with lessons from the Civil Rights Movement. It’s not only a memento of the trip, but also an important conversation starter about racial justice.
ORDER LLP WEAR HERE| BONFIRE
SLEEPING AIDS
And if you’re sharing a room, remember to pack your eyeshades and earplugs to manage lights and sounds that might impact your sleeping.
SCENTS
We also ask that you limit scents, i.e., perfume, cologne, and any extra scented things. If people have a sensitivity to scents, the close quarters of the bus could activate them. Also, be sure to check with your roommate before spraying anything in the room, burning a scented candle, etc.
CASH
It’s a good idea to have cash to leave a tip for the housekeeping staff. We generally recommend $3-5 per night. If you’re sharing a room, you can split that between you.
You might also want cash or credit cards for incidentals, gifts, snacks, etc. That should be all you need.
COVID-19 AND OTHER HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS
At this point, we highly recommend wearing masks in crowded indoor spaces, including on the bus, but this is optional. This might be modified as we determine what infection rates are in the cities and towns we’ll be visiting.
Although we do not require that you’ve had the updated (bivalent) vaccine booster, now is a good time to get it, if you’re so inclined. You also might want to bring hand sanitizer and extra vitamins, zinc, Airborne, or whatever else you use to fortify yourself.
We also highly recommend that you minimize contact with others in the two weeks before your departure. We’d hate for you to come down with COVID and have to cancel your trip, and we really don’t want to have anyone bring it on the bus with them.
SPECIAL DIETARY NEEDS
We make every effort to accommodate special dietary needs that you've made known to us when you registered. Our meals are not always at the same time every day, so if you need to eat on a schedule, or if you require anything else that you're concerned about not getting, please bring it with you. And remember to bring a water bottle. We’ll be contacting you before the trip about food choices for a few of the meals. Please respond promptly to our request for menu selections, so we can get the orders in.
MAKING MOST OF THE PILGRIMAGE EXPERIENCE
As you can see, the schedule is quite full, and the days are long. Unlike vacation tours when you have blocks of time to explore on your own, this is a sacred pilgrimage where, because of the people we'll meet and the places we'll visit, every minute is precious. We know it asks a lot of us, but we also know, from hundreds of people who have gone on this pilgrimage before you, they wouldn't trade a minute of it. When you return home after this trip, we hope you'll feel the same.
The key is to let the experience flow in you and through you without worrying about the clock. That's our job. We'll keep you informed about what's next and what to expect along the way. Your job is to breathe in as much as you can and let the experience take you where it will.
COMMUNICATING WITH FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND YOUR WORKPLACE
Because this is a sacred immersive experience, we encourage you to tell family, friends, and employers that, except for real emergencies, you are not available for these days. Put an out-of-office/away message on your email and your cell phone. Try as hard as you can to reduce distractions. We even encourage you to stay away from the news and social media, except, of course, when you're posting about the Pilgrimage (#LLP_MS2023)!
It will all be there when you return home. Give yourself these few days; make it as meaningful as you can. We guarantee you won't regret it.
GRATITUDE
Expressing gratitude is an integral part of developing relationships. We encourage you to bring thank-you cards with you and find other ways to express gratitude to those you meet along the way.
SOCIAL MEDIA/WRITING/PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEO
If you're into social media, we appreciate all the Facebooking, Instagramming, TikToking, tweeting, YouTubing, and blogging you want to share. We invite you to document as much of your journey as you want, from packing until you return home again, for the folks back home, for future pilgrims, and for your own memories, by following these guidelines:
- When posting (yes, even on Facebook), use hashtag #LLP_MS2023 so we can identify your posts and share them on the Living Legacy Pilgrimage platforms.
- If you're bringing a camera, even one on your phone, please be respectful of our guests. Give our speakers a chance to settle in before snapping photos.
- Do not tag photos of other people on the bus without obtaining permission from them.
- Talk with a staff member to get permission before taking video or audio recordings of our guests.
We hope you’ll share your photos with us. We’ll set up a Google Photos folder where you can upload after you return home. Thank you!
QUESTIONS
If you have questions, please visit our website at 2023 Mississippi Living Legacy Pilgrimage - Living Legacy Project or feel free to e-mail us at [email protected].
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