Jarvis Harris and Joe Foss are telling local audiences about their five-week, 4,600-mile tour of Black historical sites across the United States last fall. For additional insights into their journey and anti-racist work, please visit their website, AcceptingOthers.com.
After spending our first whole night in an Amtrak coach car, we arrived in Atlanta on Sunday morning at about 8:30 a.m. Sleeping in our coach seats worked fine for both of us, as these seats were quite comfortable and reclined significantly.
By the way, the coach seats had great legroom, unlike airline seating, and were much wider than airline seating so we enjoyed those comfort features all during our journey.
The train station in Atlanta was very small, but we were only about a two block walk to the Motel 6 that we made arrangements fo,r so that was convenient.
Joe: Since we arrived fairly early, I looked on Google and found that we could get to Ebenezer Baptist Church in time for their worship service. After freshening up a bit, we caught an Uber ride to the church and found seats in the sanctuary, which was filling up fast. A blessing for us that Sunday was that Reverend Raphael Warnock (one of Georgia’s U.S. Senators) was present that morning. The congregation was celebrating his 19th anniversary leading the Ebenezer congregation.
Overall, worshiping at Ebenezer was truly a blessing, not just because it was a bit different than my typical worship experience, but moreover that there was a feeling of being a part of a church congregation that was making a difference in America.
Jarvis: We were fortunate to arrive in time for the anniversary celebration at Ebenezer church. Working on the fly again. We explored Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Park, which was right across the street. The experience was great. It was focused on Dr. King and his life events, accomplishments and ventures.
The following day, we were picked up by a friend, Dwayne who lives in Atlanta, and he took us to Stone Mountain. It was quite the surprise. Neither us were aware of this site. People have told us, and various sources confirm, that it’s “the most visited tourist site in the state of Georgia.”
Stone Mountain is home to a memorial built and dedicated to the Confederacy. While most Confederate monuments are currently being removed or taken down, this one might be challenging. It's carved into the side of a mountain and pretty huge. Surprisingly, this project was started around 1925, but was not completed until 1972.
We really wanted to understand this whole story, so we researched a little after returning to our motel and found an excellent documentary, "Monument: The Untold Story of Stone Mountain," by the Atlanta History Center. You can watch it with one click at the top of this story.
One commenter in this presentation describes the "Lost Cause" myth that supports the Stone Mountain idea as one to "directly intimidate Black people living in the South."
Jarvis: I understand this issue is another one that divides us as a country. I understand the Civil War was unique because the winners and losers are still Americans. I believe if we want to be fair, we could build a place that holds and tells both sides of this conflict. It could help soothe the wounds and hurt that still exist on both sides.
Stone Mountain is not that place.
Do not put up statues and monuments to continue to impose threats and fears on fellow Americans. I doubt any other country honors the losers of conflicts. I do believe we should be able to pay our respects to soldiers lost on both sides.
Jarvis Harris, of Lacey, is a retired U.S. Army veteran and former Pierce County corrections officer who now dedicates his time to personal passions and volunteering. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he settled in Lacey during his Army service.
Joe Foss, of Tacoma, is a Navy veteran and retired business owner who has been actively engaged in projects addressing racism in America since 2012.
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Honestyandrealityguy
Fake press, Democrats and black marketing. Have we forgotten that the first legal slave owner was a black man, Anthony Johnson. Yes.
Johnson had been an indentured servant (blacks primarily from Africa, in our south) and whites (primarily from the Barbary Coast, in our north). After working off his servitude, he was given a plot of land (normal in those days). Then he had indentured servants. One of those wanted to leave him and work for another. It ended up in court and the judge ruled that Johnson owned that person; hence, slavery was born. He began selling slaves to his family and friends --- then expanded to native Indians, whites and more. At that time, the south was predominantly Democrat, the north was mostly Republicans.
When a white Republican freed the slaves, about 300,000 whites and 20,000 blacks from the north gave their lives to get rid of slavery (the north only allowed slavery for about 10 years). Later, the Democrats formed the KKK. "Diverse" group. Obama's ancestors were slave owners.
I have volunteered for 3 organizations that help fight human trafficking. The number one cause is illegal immigration. Now, we have modern day slavery. That is, where do these illegals go to work. We just learned that the State of New York paid $59 million LAST MONTH, just to house the illegals and modern day slaves.
Would there ever have been slavery in this country without a black man being the first slave owner?
Not all whites are bad. Not all blacks are bad. Let's get this right.
Tuesday, February 11 Report this
Njoy2be
Honestyandrealityguy...
Just because you keep repeating this same lie over and over does not make it true.
Wednesday, February 12 Report this
Snevets
Thank you again for sharing your experiences. I'm sure it was wonderful to have heard Rev. Warnock and brought into the energy of an election year in the church. I agree with Jarvis that we don't need monuments or statues that could conjure up terrible memories for alot of people in our history. The Statue of Liberty doesn't do that but places that do tell both sides of the story could be more memorable and help us understand our country's history.
Wednesday, February 12 Report this