Seek Justice, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly: Reflection on Alabama Pilgrimage

by Nancy Gatewood

A group of 21 led by Rev. Chad Herring gathered in Birmingham, Alabama on Oct. 9 for a human rights pilgrimage to sites of difficult history and uncomfortable truths. In preparation, Pastor Chad challenged the group to focus on Micah 6:8 with particular attention to the verbs ‘seek,’ ‘love,’ and ‘walk.’ God’s beloved community is built on reconciliation. On this pilgrimage, we explored together what God requires of us, through humility and kindness, as we opened our hearts to witness the struggle to overcome grave injustice and evil. There is still significant work that needs to be done.

The day in Montgomery, Alabama began with the National Memorial of Peace and Justice which memorializes racial terror lynchings between 1877-1950 in which more than 4,400 Black men, women, and children—named and unnamed— were killed. The Legacy Museum featured first-person historical accounts and interactive content to convey 400 years of history, from the first slaves arriving from Africa, through years of racial terrorism and Jim Crow segregation, to present-day mass incarceration. The final stop was the Freedom Sculpture Monument Park on the banks of the Alabama River. The park featured slave artifacts interspersed with powerful works of art. The National Wall of Freedom lists more than 122,000 surnames of Black persons who were counted in the 1870 census. They were “free at last.”

In Selma, the group toured the National Voting Rights Museum and had the honor of meeting Ms. Annie Pearl Avery, a foot soldier in the 1965 voting rights movement. She was the only person arrested in the Bloody Sunday march. Afterwards, the pilgrims walked over the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge together. Jan Witzke shared, “I was humbled by the opportunity we had to walk the Pettus bridge…first, to be invited to do so by a ‘general’ of the civil rights movement and then to ‘walk alongside’ the foot soldiers of the past who made that journey so courageously.”

In Birmingham, a Sanctuary clock in the 16th Baptist Church remains stopped at 10:22 a.m.—the time of the Sept. 15, 1963 bombing by Klu Klux Klan members which killed young Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair as they prepared for Youth Day. That same day, Virgil Ware, age 13, and Johnny Robinson, age 16, were fatally wounded in the city. Nearby was Kelly Ingram Park with sculptures depicting events of the Children’s Crusade, when 1,000 school children marched for justice in May 1963. Over three days, orders were given for police and firemen to use attack dogs, high-powered fire hoses and arrest the children as needed.

On the last morning, the group returned to the 16th Street Baptist Church for worship, where they were warmly welcomed. Karen Suhre recalls, “Pastor Price encouraged the congregation to extend hospitality to visitors, for ‘thereby some have entertained angels unawares.’ I’m inspired that 16th Street Baptist is still standing, still preaching God’s Word nearly 60 years after the horrific bombing, never forgetting the tragedy, but also never giving up faith, never giving in to bitterness, and still welcoming strangers—even those like us who are the same color as the hateful strangers of Sept. 15, 1963.”

Following the impactful Alabama experience, the pilgrims are now reflecting and working to discern the good that is theirs to do. One pilgrim was moved to compose the following lines on his experience:

Song of Selma

I tried to listen
With heart and mind
To your sweet mournful melody

The ghosted tunes of Abernathy
Shuttlesworth and King
Their foot soldiers singing

Through the tear gas
The harsh harmonies of cracked skulls
Bruised flesh and lacerations

The rusty beams of Pettus bridge
Ring with vibrant echoes
Of violence and victory

Will they stir these dry bones
En-tone my steely nerves?
With God’s help, only

I can and will walk
The bridge to a new world
Forged by freedom’s call

-Ron Witzke

If you are interested in learning more, all are invited to the next Building Beloved Community committee meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, in the Heritage Dining Room, Mission Campus.