Driving from Montgomery to Selma, our tour group followed the route of that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and hundreds of other actvists traveled on the historic 1965 voting rights march. Our bus journeyed the approximate 50 miles that the marchers walked on foot, camping out in fields along the way.
Our first stop in Selma was the Slavery and Civil Rights Museum. The tour guide, Sam - who, interestingly, resembles actor Samuel L. Jackson - gave our tour group the full experience.
He acted as a slavemaster and ordered our group members to act like slaves, walking with a stooped demeanor as if our legs were in chains. He also ordered us to turn off all cellphones, since, obviously, that technology didn't exist in slavery times.
Unfortunately, I had to miss the tour of the Slavery and Civil Rights Museum, ducking out to take a work-related call. As much as I'd like to totally "unplug" and fully experience this tour with none of our modern-day distractions, the reality of life today just doesn't make that possible.
Fortunately, I did get to complete the tour of the next stop, the National Voting Rights Museum And Institute. Our group got to hear a firsthand account of the Bloody Sunday voting rights march from someone who lived through it - our tour guide, Sam.
I got to sit in a replica of a jail cell that was typical of those where civil rights activists were held when arrested.
I also ran my hands over the knobs of a vintage voting machine, one of the first used by African-American voters when they finally received the hard-won right to cast a ballot.
The highlight of today's tour so far was walking over the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of Bloody Sunday and the subsequent successful march led by Dr. King 50 years ago.
The bridge and the marches have been immortalized in the Oscar-nominated movie "Selma" and hosted crowds from all over the world last month during 50th anniversary celebrations of the Voting Rights Act.
After walking over the bridge, our group formed a circle, held hands and prayed that we could honor the sacrifices of those whose footsteps we followed in. We also sang "Amazing Grace."
This has been an incredibly moving experience. I can't help but think about all the struggles that gave way to the freedoms so many of us now take for granted.
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