Postcard from Birmingham

"Everytime I see this, I get emotional," the elderly woman says as she grabs my arm, only to look up, with tears in her eyes, and not see the face she expected.  In a dark room in the National Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham, watching a large-screen vision of Martin Luther King's speech to the nation, I am a lone white person among a large group of African Americans.  After a brief moment of uncertainty and loosening her hold, she sees the empathy in my eyes and regrasps my arm.  We speak quietly.  She, a retired Black teacher from Birmingham who had been a participant in history, and me, a White teacher from the suburbs of California who had come of age in the 60's, connect for a brief time in this very human experience.  At that moment, we both understand Dr. King's message that undeserved suffering may not be fair, but it can be redemptive. Why do I travel?  To gain a better understanding of the history and experiences that shape the different cultures in our own country.   (July 2007)