UPDATE: I have completed fundraising for Sojourn. However, if you are still interested in supporting the organization that sponsors the trip, you can get donation information on Sojourn’s website.

Hello everyone,

I’m going to break away from the regular content on Webmacster87.info to make a more personal post and a request for assistance. I have been invited to go on a once in a lifetime journey with students from my school, called Sojourn to the Past. Sojourn is a ten-day academic tour through major civil rights sites in Atlanta, Georgia; Montgomery, Alabama; Selma, Alabama; Birmingham, Alabama; Hattiesburg, Georgia; Jackson, Georgia; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Memphis, Tennessee. In addition to visiting such sites as Stone Mountain, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Memorial, Little Rock Central High School, and the hotel where Dr. King was assassinated, I also have the opportunity to meet a number of speakers who are a part of the civil rights movement.

All of the speakers teach lessons about tolerance, acceptance of others, non-violence, courage, compassion, forgiveness, and civic responsibility. Our group will meet Congressman John Lewis, from Georgia, who was arrested over 40 times and beaten fighting for justice and equality. We meet Elizabeth Eckford and Minnijean Brown Trickey, two of the Little Rock Nine, the first African American students to desegregate schools in our country in 1957, fifty years ago. In fact, Minnijean travels with us for part of the ten days! We also meet 85 year old Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, who almost single-handedly desegregated Birmingham, Alabama. We meet Reverend Billy Kyles, who was on the balcony with Dr. King when he was shot in Memphis and spent the last hour of his life with him. We meet an incredible family called the Dahmers, whose father/husabnd was murdered in 1966 while leading voter registration drives. This family will share how they never gave up on justice, and continue to believe in the American system. We meet Chris McNair, whose daughter, Denise, was killed in the Birmingham Church Bombing in 1963. He is the father of one of the four little girls who were killed and shares his story of never giving up on justice and not to hate those who did this terrible deed.

The main reason that I want to go on this trip is because a lot of the extracurricular activities that I participate in are based on principles similar to those of the civil rights movement, and this trip is a special opportunity that I want to be a part of. I am intrigued by the thought of not just getting to learn more about the civil rights movement, but to actually be able to interact and meet the people that made the movement a reality. It’s a very special opportunity because these people won’t be around for much longer to share their perspectives. I’m really hoping to be able to go on this exciting trip.

The reason that I am writing this post is that I need to raise a total of $2500 in order to go, and I cannot personally afford the full cost of this trip, and so I am asking the readers of my blog, if they are interested and are able to, to donate so that I can raise enough money to go on this trip in February 2008. There are a few ways you can donate. The easiest way is through the Donate box that is on the left sidebar of Webmacster87.info–that will allow you to donate directly to me through PayPal. Note, however, that if you are donating via PayPal, a small PayPal fee is subtracted from that total (you may want to use the PayPal Fees Calculator to determine how much I’ll actually be getting), and PayPal donations are not tax-deductible. If you would prefer, you can leave a comment in this thread and I will personally contact you via the e-mail address that you specify with information on how you can send a check, which is tax-deductible (I would send you all the info on the various IRS quirks that are necessary to make it tax-deductible). In the Donation box, I have put a suggested default amount of $10, but any amount helps. If the total that I raise exceeds the needed $2500, then the extra goes toward a financial aid fund that is available for other students to attend this program.

If you would like to learn more about the trip, including the itinerary, list of speakers, and other information, feel free to check out Sojourn to the Past’s website.

Thanks in advance for any support you may be able to offer!
–Douglas Bell

Tags: assistance, civil rights, donations, fundraising, history, Personal, request, School, Sojourn to the Past, south, trip