These are diary entries that I wrote throughout my ten-day Sojourn to the Past trip on February 14-23. Each entry is posted here two weeks after it was originally written, due to the provision that I didn’t have any computer or internet access during my trip. Be sure to check out my other Sojourn to the Past coverage. Enjoy.

Today was another long day packed full of things. Some were good, some were so-so, and some were positively awestriking. (I think I’m going to run out of adjectives by this time next Saturday.)

This morning began with the most touching lesson for me thus far: a lesson on Robert “Bobby” Kennedy. He was attorney general under JFK in 1961-1965, a senator from New York in 1965-1968, and a presidential candidate in 1968. After we learned about how he came to fame, we learned about the humanitarian efforts that he did as a senator and how he brought attention to poor people and starving children in the country. We learned about how his campaign formed an unprecedented following in the country, and finally how he was shot the evening of June 4, 1968 (just two months after Dr. King) and died two days later. It’s intriguing to think about how our country might have been different had he survived and became president in 1968 instead of Richard Nixon.

After that, we had a workshop that was co-led by one of the Sojourn teachers and by Minnijean Brown-Trickey. The workshop was about institutionalized racism, and discussing the prevalence of racism in many places today, albeit more subtly. The workshop seemed kind of so-so to me though, partly because we had to sit on the floor throughout, but also because the other students often went off on a tangent or were peacefully arguing over a technicality.

We went to a food court in a big Atlanta mall for dinner, and we were given an allowance to spend on whatever meal we wanted. It might have been better if it was later than 4:30–we had just had lunch at 1:00. However, I did get to try dinner at a place with the most interesting french fries I’ve ever seen: they looked kinda like the Chex breakfast cereal, except more 2-D, and appropriately bigger than the cereal.
After that, we went back to the MLK Historic Site, and saw a film about Dr. King’s last day on earth, including listening to and analyzing Bobby Kennedy’s speech that night in Indianapolis. We passed by Ebenezer Baptist Church and took some pictures (we would have gone inside if it wasn’t under renovation), and finally, we ended the day at the gravesites of Dr. King and Coretta Scott King, where we had a moment of reflection.

Tomorrow will be a big day when we will meet and hear from Rev. Clark Olsen and Congressman John Lewis, and then move along into Selma. It is now time for curfew, so good night.

Tags: Atlanta, Bobby Kennedy, Coretta Scott King, diaries, Dr. King, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Georgia, gravesite, Minnijean Brown-Trickey, Sojourn to the Past, workshop