Many of you heard me preach months ago about one of the two Living Legacy pilgrimages I’ve taken in the last year to civil rights sites in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. The photo with this column is me, my mother, and Mr. Hezekiah Watkins, a Freedom Rider who spoke to our group at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Mississippi. His storytelling was one of the highlights of the pilgrimage for me.

The pilgrimages are being offered again this fall, and our own Diane Dobitz is signed up for the Mississippi pilgrimage from October 15-20. The trip has not yet reached the minimum number of registrants, and the registration deadline has been extended to August 31.

Here is a link for the details:

https://www.livinglegacypilgrimage.org/2024_oct_ms.html

I strongly encourage any of you who are interested to consider joining Diane on the pilgrimage. It is a life changing experience, and draws clear connections between civil rights history and our nation’s present.  One of the things that makes the pilgrimages so powerful is the opportunity to interact with people like Mr. Watkins, who lived the history. That’s not something I would have been able to do as a tourist traveling alone; Living Legacy Pilgrimages makes those encounters part of the journey.

I hope some of you will go, and come back with your own stories of pilgrimage and learning. Scholarships are available, and I am happy to talk to you if you have questions.

In gratitude,

Rev. Diana