December 22, 2007

Also known as “the longest layover ever,” this trip was short and sweet. We had only enough time (seven hours) to see two highly-rated sites: Graceland and The National Civil Rights Museum. Both turned out to be excellent use of our between-flight time.

I admit I was nervous about visiting Graceland. Being much younger than the average Elvis fan, I wasn’t sure we’d understand the significance of the site. And, since people have been known to faint here, would we be called out for heresy if we dared to snicker or yawn? Well, thankfully, December sees mild tourist flow here, and I was pleasantly intrigued by Graceland. Surprisingly petite, Elvis’ beloved home is done up in wildly 70s style (green shag carpet on the ceiling, a 100% fabric-covered billiard room, and striking yellows, blues, and oranges), making it a true historical site, even though I have been chastised for calling the 1970s “historical.” (Well, it IS. Older folk, consider it a positive thing, that the younger generation can’t believe how much you know that is unfamiliar to us.)

I preferred the areas that are recreations of the real living areas, but the converted museum-type buildings (like one room completed covered in gold records and another with every one of Elvis’ movie posters) were an educational look at a completely foreign time for us. As Elvis’ massive popularity and superstardom slowly sunk in, we reflected on how his image today is such a parody – the white sequined jumpsuits, the huge sunglasses, the bloated face. If I had been around to see the rise of an iconoclastic, edgy-yet-wholesome performer who made truly unique music, perhaps I too would faint in joy at Graceland.

Next, it was on to another historical site, one that made Graceland seem somewhat silly by comparison. The National Civil Rights Museum is built into the old Lorraine Motel, the site of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, but it details pretty much every aspect of the Civil Rights movement (we’re talking back to slave revolts, 1600s-style), not just the later MLK-influenced era. Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed inside, but my impressions were so vivid as to make up for our lack of physical images. (For more information, I would highly recommend the website http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org, which describes each of the main periods of African-American history and has some photos. All of the below photos come from their website.)

There were plenty of familiar events that we know of, such as Brown vs. the Topeka Board of Education, the March on Washington, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, but what struck home the most were the repeated stories of people dedicating their entire lives to the struggle for freedom. It’s something that we today have no reference point for, and something I did not truly realize happened. Of course there were the landmark events and the cornerstone leaders, but the continued, repeated, dogged day-to-day work made the Civil Rights movement work. Did you know, for example:

• Asa Philip Randolph founded The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in the 1930s and worked his whole life for social reform.
• The Highlander Folk School was formed in Tennessee in the 1930s and gathered and trained leaders.
• Starting in the 1940s, “James Farmer and Bayard Rustin pioneered sit-ins, freedom rides, and the marches that became hallmarks of the 1960s protest.”
• “Beginning in 1950, Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund began mounting multiple cases to challenge segregated public education nationwide.”
• “On February 1, 1960 four North Carolina A & T college students sat down at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro. They read books until closing time and returned the next day to do the same. Their protest received media attention and sparked sit-ins across the South.”
• “In 1961, James Meredith's application to the University of Mississippi touched off a firestorm of protest. When Meredith's application was denied, he filed suit against the University contending that he was denied because of race.”

Overall, the civil rights museum is a fascinating place to reconsider your life and whether you are doing enough to change the world. (I know, but seriously!) Not bad for a mere layover trip.