Graduate students impacted by Sites of Resistance, Sites of Healing trip
By: Margaret Savoie
In March 2022, the Graduate School co-sponsored a trip with the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, “Sites of Resistance, Sites of Healing.” This trip included visits to historical sites of racial injustice to reflect on the legacy and imagine new possibilities for the future. Starting in Oxford, MS, the group of students (mostly graduate students), along with faculty, staff, and community members traveled to Sumner, MS, and Montgomery, AL.
While in Sumner, the group visited the Emmett Till Interpretive Center. Here the group learned about the death of Emmett Till and the subsequent murder trial that brought light to the brutality of Jim Crow segregation in the south and was an early impetus of the civil rights movement. Once in Montgomery, the group visited the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice. The group examined and discussed America’s history of racial injustice and its legacy and learned about current work being done to challenge racial and economic injustice.
Prior to the experience, the group gathered the night before their departure to engage in storytelling and group formation activities facilitated by the Alluvial Collective (formerly William Winter Institute) to begin building relationships with one another that would last beyond the two-day itinerary. The group also reconvened a week after they returned to debrief their experience and process the next steps.
“It was beautifully planned and professionally handled,” said graduate student Anthony Gottlich, “I think the directors did an incredible job and were not afraid to sit with the discomfort of the trip and shape it into something productive.”
The trip was sparked by a conversation between Dean Annette Kluck of the Graduate School and Assistant Vice Chancellor of Diversity and Inclusion Dr. Norris “EJ” Edney III. Both had previously visited the museum and memorial in Montgomery and wanted to take students. For the Graduate School, the trip would align with the desire to ensure graduate students engage with our local history while they study at UM, especially history related to racial injustice and civil rights. The Graduate School had previously committed to organizing and sponsoring an annual trip to such sites and the chance to partner with other units meant it would be possible to make the trip to the museum and memorial in Montgomery. The partnership led to a trip that was larger and more engaging than the original vision.
Edney reached out to Dr. Castel Sweet in her role as Director of the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) and Assistant Professor of Practice in Community Engagement. Sweet was interested to provide opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and community residents to engage with one another in transformative experiences. Sweet had visited the sites of the trip many times – each time deeply impacted. She values the knowledge of community residents and seeks to incorporate community perspectives in anything she does.
“Merging these two things I felt that taking a group of university affiliates and community residents on a trip would be a valuable learning experience for all involved,” said Sweet.
The Graduate School sponsored several graduate students on the trip. Four Graduate School employees also joined. Graduate student participants in the Southern Region Education Board (SREB) Doctoral Scholars program and the Cole-Eftink Fellows program on the trip also had a chance to meet with students from Auburn University (AU). Over the past year, the two Graduate Schools had organized monthly networking events via zoom. Traveling to Montgomery made it possible for those who attended to meet some of the students from the UM-AU networking events.
For Gottlich, the most significant moment on the trip was the Lynching Memorial. “I practiced reading each name in my head to make space for that person’s humanity, as someone’s child or parent or neighbor.”
“I walked away not only moved by the sheer horror of the violence – some of which I was expecting – but a renewed energy to be a part of telling history in all its morbidity: to be a part of the side that resists the editing and manipulation of history,” said Gottlich.
When asked about feedback for this trip, participants shared how deeply impacted they were by the experience. Many appreciated the opportunity to visit the sites as a group and hear about the different stories and experiences of other participants.
Braxton Thomas, a graduate assistant at the CCE was also in attendance for the trip.
“One moment that sticks out for me was the reflection room at the end of the Equal Justice Initiatives Museum tour – it was a calming room where you could channel your emotions after leaving the actual exhibit,” she continued, “The room’s four walls were covered with African American people who had contributed [in] some way to the advancement of their people in America… it was breathtaking.”
There is hope for future trips. “There are so many additional sites and locations in the state of Mississippi that would provide an impactful experience for future opportunities…the options are endless,” said Sweet. Already, Sweet, Edney, and Kluck have initiated planning for a similar trip in 2023. Students, alumni, and members of the UM-Oxford community are encouraged to look for an announcement of details for next year’s trip in the upcoming months.