While my travel to the South is exhausting and expensive, I never for a second regretted my decision to go Deep South because I have learned so much about its people, culture and history. For months, I’ve been preoccupied with research on which cities in the South should I go to. From hotel, airline and bus reservations, I have to be more patient and diligent in order to get the best deal and also be able to maximize every minute of my travel. I have to do the reservations several months ahead and tediously research the area and points of interest.
I was quite interested in the history of
the civil rights movement so I decided to explore Montgomery, Alabama. The
social theory of Martin Luther King, Jr. on Non-violence has captured my
intellectual curiosity. I was not surprised to know that Mahatma Gandhi’s
Theory of Non-Violence mostly influenced King’s social philosophy because it
was the height of the popularity of the great sage from India. The old State
Capitol whose history dates back to the 17th<D> century sits
on top of the main street overlooking the deserted business district. The First
White House of the Confederacy Movement houses the memorabilia of its first
president (Jefferson Davis) and his family. The King Memorial Baptist Church
where Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastor in 1954 is literally walking
distance from Alabama State Capitol and State Department Archives and History.
When Rosa Parks, mother of the Civil Rights Movement, was charged and arrested
for refusing to give her bus seat to a white fellow, the biggest bus boycott in
the South was organized in Montgomery, Alabama. While Alabama is widely known
as the “Cradle of the Confederacy” which dates back to 1861 during which Jefferson
Davis was elected president and took oath of office on the steps of the State
Capitol, this historic place is now also known as the “birthplace of the Civil
Rights Movement”. As I would say it, it is a place of two major
revolutions, Confederate Movement and Civil Rights Movement, that took place
ten decades apart from each other but have the same philosophy and battle cry -
Fight for Freedom.
Atlanta, Georgia is one of the biggest
cities in the South and is popularly known as the “Peach Country”. While New
York is the Big Apple of the North, Georgia is the Big Peach of the South.
Although its history is not as remarkable as Montgomery, Alabama, it boost one
of the most beautiful art museums I have ever seen in the entire twenty two
States that I’ve been into within the past five years. High Museum of Art
in collaboration with the Musee du Louvre is presenting the “Louvre
Atlanta” which will showcase for three years the Kings Collection from
paintings, drawings, tapestries and sculptures. I have spent almost a day
looking at the beautiful paintings of Raphael, Rembrandt Harmensz, Bartolome
Esteben Murillo, Jean-Louis Lemoyne, Diego Velasquez, Pietro da Cortona, Guido
Reni, et. al. Adjacent to the museum is the Alliance Theater which is the home
of its performing arts although it is not as big and elegant
as the Kennedy Arts Center in
Washington, D.C. A fifty-five minutes tour inside the CNN Atlanta is an awesome
experience especially that I volunteered to read the news report, which puts me
on a makeshift TV inside the studio. The World of Coca-Cola is another
legendary attraction to the city of Atlanta where it exhibits more than fifteen
different products that the company is manufacturing all throughout the world.
The Centennial Park, Georgia Dome, Georgia World Congress Center and Aquarium
are all within the city loop tour so practically this has practically save my
time. Considering the remarkable work that Martin Luther King, Jr. has done for
the Civil Rights, I was expecting a more upscale museum and gravesite but I was
frustrated because the museum is not well funded. The pictures and memorabilia
of Dr. King and that of his wife, Coreta Scott King are mounted in tiny panels
and the labels are not big enough to have a good reading of the events of the
past. I was talking to some of the people at the museum and I am made to
believe that there are not enough support and donations from the Black people
themselves. The “Underground”, which is located at the very heart of Atlanta
business district, is crowded with shoppers, hip-hop dudes and teenagers alike.
The “Peach Drop” which is celebrated every New Years Eve will be highlighted
with a major concert by the famous group “Lonestar” within the ground of the
“Underground”. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay because my flight leaves
Atlanta two hours before the most celebrated “Peach Drop” in the South.
Four hours from Montgomery, Alabama
through Greyhound Bus is the Las Vegas of the South – Biloxi, Mississippi.
Although, it takes only an hour and a half driving down to Biloxi but taking
the Bus is more convenient for me so I can sit and relax. The place was
devastated by Katrina last year and I am amazed by how the casino money easily
built an amazing casino and resort hotel – Beau Rivage where it serves the
traditional Southern breakfast menu for a reasonable buffet price. Although the
coastline has not been totally restored to its glory but with the construction
going on, the place will definitely have an aura of Las Vegas Strip within a
year.
A buffet dinner at Grand Biloxi Casino
and Resort is equally enjoying because of the Southern taste but more soothing
is a cup of coffee from Starbucks afterward. While I had a serious academic
learning in Montgomery, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia, I had fun at the slot
machines in Biloxi, Mississippi. Another stop at Isle of Capri Casino has made
me succumb into the world of gambling for the rest of the day just before
dinner. Again, I have promised for the New Year that I will never make a single
step into any gambling house. I hope to keep that promise. Happy New Year to
all.
