Pan Africa! 2022 Cultural Heritage Tourism Travel

Our 2022 Cultural Heritage Tourism and Travel Recommendation

BIRMINGHAM MONTGOMERY MOBILE SELMA TUSKEGEE

ALABAMA

Table of Content Letter from the Publisher ​

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Central Florida Association of Black Journalists

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Birmingham

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Birmingham - Cultural Sites​

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Birmingham - Heritage Sites​

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Birmingham - Restaraunts​

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Birmingham - The Arts and Entertainment

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Birmingham - Events ​

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Montgomery

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Montgomery - Cultural Sites

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Montgomery - Heritage Sites

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Montgomery - Shops and Restaraunts​

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Montgomery - Events​

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Mobile

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History of Mobile

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Mobile - Cultural Sites

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Mobile - Historic Sites

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Mobile - Places of Worship

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Mobile - Events

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Selma

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Selma - Attractions

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Tuskegee

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History of Tuskeege

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Pan African American Travel Club

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The “South”

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Southern Cultural Heritage Trails

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Pan African American Cultural Heritage Media

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Become A Member

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Become A Sponsor

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The Institute’s E-Magazine

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Pan African Cultural Heritage Societies

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Societies Continued

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Letter from the Publisher Cultural Heritage Tourism and Travel 2022

Alabama and The South Welcome to the First ‘Pan Africa!’, Cultural Heritage Tourism Edition! ‘Pan Africa!’ is a quarterly membership magazine that explores the culture and historical connectivity of the People of African Descent across the globe.

‘Pan Africa!’ is a production of the Pan African American Cultural Heritage Media Network, a department of the Pan African Cultural Heritage Institute and in partnership and direction of the Florida Black Chamber of Commerce, Inc. and the National Cultural Heritage Tourism Center, Inc..

One of the most important states associated with the Culture and History of African Americans, is the State of Alabama. One can not begin to tell the story of the Civil Rights Movement, without spending the majority of time explaining the importance of the struggle in Alabama. It truly was a ‘Battle Ground State’! It is the Gettysburg of the Civil Rights Movement. Also, the state was a focal point and is the rise of African Americans as we transitioned from enslavement to freedom, fighting the shackles of Jim Crow and the limitations of legal segregation. Alabama helped produce extraordinary leaders in the battle for equality and justice. Leaders from within the state and across the country. It is the publisher’s opinion, that no other state has played a such a significant role in the delivery of our freedom, than the Great State of Alabama. And because of this opinion, Alabaman was selected to be the first state profiled in the 2022 Edition of the Pan Africa Cultural Heritage Tourism and Travel Magazine.

Hopefully you will find the information enlightening, useful and informative as you plan your business and family vacation travels for 2022. We encourage you to consider traveling to or adding a stop in one of the great historical cities and sites in Alabama or one of the of the other states in the South! You will not be disappointed, and your life will be enriched following the experience..

Bless YOU!

E.Franklin Eugene Franklin Publisher/Chairman Pan African Cultural Heritage Institute

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Pan African Cultural Heritage Institute, Inc. is a proud member of the Central Florida Association of Black Journalists and publishes ‘Pan Africa!’, under the journalistic umbrella of the Association.

About CFABJ: The Central Florida Association of Black Journalists was originally founded in 1983 as the Black Media Association/Central Florida. Its mission was to form a regional network of professionals to improve skills, share ideas and experiences. Currently CFABJ serves journalists, media and public relations professionals, and student and professors in the communications field in Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Brevard, Volusia, and Lake Counties.

The CFABJ are an affiliate chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.

The objectives of the CFABJ are as follow: • • • • •

• • •

Inform the Central Florida community – placing special emphasis on the area’s Black population about the importance of the mass media as it relates to a resident’s daily life, needs and concerns.

Regularly critique reportorial deficiencies in the local media in relation to Black people.

Assist the Black community in the usage of the media and to expose print and broadcast media to the need for fair, impartial and adequate coverage of news in the Black community.

Improve professional skills among Black journalists and broadcasters and, at the same time, to honor excellence and outstanding achievements in the field.

Strengthen ties between whites, Blacks, and other minorities in the mass media, and to provide a support system for fellow Black communicators.

Monitor affirmative action and Federal Communications Commission guidelines for equal employment opportunity at Central Florida print and broadcast companies; to serve as an employee advocate when necessary; and to work to increase the numbers of Black journalists in managerial and supervisory positions.

Work with high school and college students aspiring toward careers in the media.

Act as a resource for journalism teachers and other academic professionals, and to encourage the appointment of Black journalism teachers and professors at local schools and colleges.

Network job opportunities throughout the country in general and in the Central Florida area in particular.

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BIRMINGHAM Historic Cultural Community Birmingham Fourth Avenue A black business district formed just after 1890.

In a pattern characteristic of Southern cities found during Reconstruction, black businesses developed alongside those of whites in many sections of the downtown area.

After the turn of the 19th century, Jim Crow laws authorizing the distinct separation of the races and subsequent restrictions placed on local companies compressed the growing black business community into an area along Third, Fourth and Fifth Avenues North, from 15th to 18th Streets.

Segregation and discrimination created a small world in which black enterprise was accepted and to which African-Americans had open access. This area served as our business, social and cultural center with activities similar to those in the predominantly white districts.

Businesses located in the area included barber and beauty shops, mortuaries, saloons, restaurants, theaters, photographic studios,

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and motels. Those black businesses and their successors continued to do well throughout the 1960s.

Birmingham Fourth Avenue district had a thriving nightlife. On Friday and Saturday nights, the streets were filled with crowds of people visiting bars or just out for a stroll. Live entertainment made the district “the place to be.” Monroe Kennedy, a blind bookie, made sure that Fourth Avenue got its fair share of the Big Swing Bands. This seven-story building was designed by black architects, Taylor & Persley and built by Windham Brothers Construction Company, another Blackowned business. Not only was the Masonic Temple used for entertainment, it housed black professional offices and was the state headquarters for the Masons and Order of Eastern Stars.

Today, many of the long-closed buildings have reopened as new businesses. Fourth Avenue District is once again home to several black-owned restaurants that keep it real.

Photo // Chris Pruitt

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Kelly Ingram Park and 16th Street Baptist Church are also part of the district. The old Carver Theatre is now home to both the Carver Performing Arts Theatre and the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame where exhibits include a look at the jazz legends from the area.

The district is also important to Soul Music enthusiasts. It hosted touring artists from Motown and Stax Records in small concerts and after-parties when they visited Birmingham.

Eddie Kendrick of the Temptations was born in Birmingham in 1937. He never forgot his roots and returned for his finals days before passing in 1992. Eddie Kendrick Memorial Park in the district features a must-see statue of silver-throated Eddie singing with original Temptations. Though it was dedicated in 1999, you can still imagine him singing Just My Imagination.

Photo // David Brossard

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Birmingham Cultural Sites Kelly-Ingram Park Pace Freedom Walk in the park slowly to digest the gravity, sacrifices and triumph as Civil Rights Movement theory met harsh reality at this National Historic site. Bronzed sculptures of police attacking civil rights protesters with a Billy-club, police dogs attacking civil rights marchers, children jailed for Civil Rights marching, and three ministers praying for justice capture a truthful snapshot of the madness of Jim Crow in the 1960s. It sends a visceral reminder to generations to come that America must never return to those days of discrimination against any group of people. A statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and four paths along Freedom Walk converge towards a center inscription with calming words of hope.

Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame Fittingly based in the historic Carver Center for the Performing Arts, Birmingham’s citizens and civic leaders deserve ‘props for this noteworthy contextual reuse of a Chitlin’ Circuit theater. This is noteworthy because most Chitlin’ Circuit theaters around the nation have be “redeveloped” out of existence; the concert theatre features a number of contemporary shows. Carver Center is under renovation.

Historic Fourth Avenue Visitor Center Tours, photographs and a slide presentation tell stories of the Fourth Avenue district: a commercial, social and cultural center for AfricanAmericans since the early years of the 20th century.

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Eddie Kendricks & The Temptations Memorial Located in Memorial Park, this remarkable monument to the man with the golden tenor and the Tempting Temptations, by artist Ron McDowell. Perhaps no song ever captured the smooth delivery of Eddie (1940-1992) as the perfectly as his vocal signature piece, Just My Imagination, hailed by music critics as one of the best R&B songs of all-time.

Miles College Opened in 1908 this Historically Black College is excelling amidst a climate of financial challenges for similar institutions. Its one of the top colleges in terms of enrollment growth, compared to UNCF member institutions, graduation rates increased 68%, and endowment increased 281% since 1994. Notable among its 11,000 alumni are Richard Arrington, Birmingham’s first African American and 5-term mayor, UW Clemon, the first African American federal judge in Alabama, Dr Luther Williams, Assistant Directorate of the National Science Foundation. The attractive campus features all the spirit one expects for such an historic small liberal arts college of 1200 students.

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Photo // David Mark

Birmingham Heritage Sites Kelly Ingram Park This National Historic Site symbolizes the essence of the Civil Rights Movement.

Protesters organized for marches here when they were beaten by police, brutally attacked by police dogs, fire-hosed and arrested. Their nightly televised civil rights struggle between 2-7 May 1963 captivated a nation when there were only 3 national networks and you could believe what you saw on the national news.

The park is named in honor of Osmond Kelly Ingram, the first American sailor killed in World War I.

Metropolitan AME Zion Church Founded in 1885 under the leader of Bishop WA Stewart, with the current edifice built in 1903 and rebuilt in 1955, this church was also key to the civil rights marches played out in Kelly Ingram Park.

Booker T Washington Insurance Building Founded in 1923, this multi-building complex housed one of the largest African American insurance companies on the Black Enterprise Insurance Companies list.

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16th Street Baptist Church Although founded in 1873, the current church was designed by Black architect Wallace A Rayfield and built by the Windham Brothers Construction Company in 1911 as the finest of its kind in Alabama.

Directly adjacent to downtown and under the leadership of then Rev John H Cross, the church with a seating capacity of 1,600 lent itself to be the staging area for the civil rights protests. It was the location of a 16 September 1963 bombing that killed four little girls in the Ladies Lounge School — Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins and Carol Robertson and wounded 22 others. Most historians credit the 4 martyred girls for putting a noble face on the Civil Rights Movement. Nearly $230,000 in worldwide donations poured in to rebuild the church and help the bereaved families.

The front of the church has been restored and a memorial to the girls is accessible downstairs. Rev. Dr Chistopher M. Hamlin has written a book about the history of the church. In 2013, the four little girls were posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

St. Paul United Methodist Church St. Paul is one of the oldest United Methodist Congregations in Alabama.

A.G. Gaston Gardens Bethel Baptist Church Founded in 1926, this small church was the pastoral home for a giant of a man, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, who led the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham. Due to Rev Shuttlesworth’s constant pressure against the status quo of segregation and racism in the 1950s, this church was bombed three times and still evidences such bombings.

The congregation moved to a new church.

New Bethel Baptist Church The original Bethel Baptist congregation moved to this modern church.

Freedom Riders Debarkation Site On 14 May 1961 African American and AngloAmerican youths in the Congress Of Racial Equality (CORE) arrived here on their journey from Washington, DC to New Orleans. They were testing a Civil Rights ruling with much fanfare in the South. Klansman greeted and assaulted them here while the Bull Connor’s police force, alert to the possibility of violence, nevertheless stood by.

For many years after Reconstruction this hotel, formerly owned by A G Gaston, was the only first class lodging for African Americans visiting Birmingham. During the 1960s it was a prime meeting place for civil rights leaders. “Project C” for confrontation of Jim Crow in the Civil Rights Movement was conceived here. The hotel was bombed during the Civil Rights Movement. In restored condition, you can tour the grounds.

Alabama Penny Savings Bank Founded in 1890, then moved to this location in 1913, it was Alabama’s first bank for African Americans one of the first three for Blacks in the nation. It was built by Windham Construction, a black owned company. The style of the building suggests the architectural touch of Wallace A Rayfield.

Without this strong bank, most homes for Birmingham’s earliest African Americans never would have been built. The building also housed of the cities earliest doctors and attorneys. In 1915, the Grand Lodge Knights of Pythias, a black fraternal organization, bought the building. It is has been known as the Pythian Building since then. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Photo // Clark Tibbs

Smithfield Historic District One of the earliest Birmingham African American neighborhoods since the 1890s and on the National Register of Historic Places, this district is a notable reminder of how social and economic class distinctions were formed in the Black community. European-American civic officials zoned homes in the area for middleclass African-Americans. To be a doctor, lawyer, educator, pastor, businessperson of means was to live here. AG Gaston, one of the earliest African American millionaires, and political activist Angela Y. Davis lived in the area. A historic marker is located at Eighth Avenue and Center Street.

Windham Construction Building Opened in 1912, it was once home to the oldest African American construction company in Alabama. Thomas Windham immigrated from New Orleans and established this business in 1895. In 1897 his brother Benjamin Windham joined him after graduating with honors from Leland University, then located in New Orleans.

Though based in Birmingham the successful Windham Brothers Construction Company established branch offices in Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis and Nashville. The building served as Thomas Windham’s personal home as well as offices for several small businesses. The company operated here until 1966, when Lewis Windham, only son of Thomas Windham died.

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Dr A M Brown House Arthur McKinnon Brown (1867-1939), one of the earliest black physicians, commissioned Wallace A. Rayfield (1874-1941) the official architect for all AME churches in America and many Fourth Avenue District buildings, to design his home. After graduating from Lincoln University, Dr Brown graduated with honors in surgery and ophthalmology from Michigan Medical School in 1891. He later founded Children’s Home Hospital, which was for many years the only hospital for Birmingham’s African Americans. He also instituted Negro National Health Week which evolved to National Health Week. The house is now a community center stewarded by the Birmingham Arts Club.

Tuggle Elementary School In 1903, Carrie Tuggle (1858-1924) founded a school and orphanage, the Tuggle Institute; she worked with delinquent boys and as a welfare officer then conceived of providing housing facilities for orphaned black children. After fundraising, she and her supporters opened a one-building school and residence for homeless black boys.

Distinguished alumni include Dr. A.G. Gaston, Angela Davis, Ersking Hawkins, and John T. Whatley. Tuggle is honored in the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame. Today the venue serves as an elementary school and her grave site is out back.

Tuxedo Junction Jazz composer Erskine Hawkins named his 1939 hit song after a 2nd floor dance hall in the Nixon building at this streetcar crossing, Tuxedo Junction. In the 1920s and 1930s, this nightclub was a nexus for Black Birmingham nightlife.

Angela Y. Davis Residence on Dynamite Hill The famous political activist, feminist, socialist and professor Angela Y. Davis (1994-) hails from this neighborhood when her family moved here in 1948. Newspapers gave her neighborhood the name “Dynamite Hill” when the KKK drew a racial dividing line by bombing over 20 homes from 1955 onwards in a white residential section that started selling more homes to black families.

Police Chief Eugene “Bull” Connor had a lack of interest in catching and prosecuting the perpetrators. In fact, infamous Chief Connor was so bad he even asked Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth to take a lie detector test to clear his name in the bombing of his own house in Dynamite Hill. In that racial climate spawning from this district, Birmingham became infamously known as “Bombingham.”son of Thomas Windham died.

Historic WENN Radio A historic landmark, WENN Radio is one of the oldest African American radio stations in the South.

Citizen’s Federal Savings Bank Though housed in a modern building, this bank was founded in 1956 by AG Gaston to serve the African American community.

Slossfield Community Center Built in 1939 by African American Acipco workers with funds matched by Acipco management, this structure won a national award in 1940 for “Outstanding Negro Community Center in the US.” Awaiting restoration and re-use.

Shadow Lawn Cemetery The Four Little Girls killed in the 1963 bombing (Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, and Carol Robertson) of 16th Street Baptist Church are interred here along with many other African Americans from Birmingham.

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Treat Your Tastebuds At These

Restaurants Green Acres Cafe Part of a three cafe chain, the cafe located in a renovated historic building formerly known as the “OK Dry Cleaning Building.”

Opened in 1915, it was one of the earliest black businesses in Fourth Avenue District.

Cuisine: Soul Food Price Range: Days & Hours: Monday - Saturday 9 AM - 11 PM Address: 1705 Fourth Avenue North Birmingham, AL Phone: 205-251-3875 Website: www.greenacrescafe.com

Mrs B’s On Fourth This classic old restaurant serves Home cooking without pork. Daily specials and entrees include: baked chicken, meat loaf, BBQ ribs, pot roast, fried chicken, & fried fish. Side items includes fried corn, turnip greens, macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes, rice, black-eyed peas, squash casserole, pinto beans, candied yams, fried corn. Don’t forget the homemade peach cobbler and banana pudding.

Cuisine: Soul Food Price Range: Days & Hours: Daily 11 AM - 7 PM Address: 328 16th Street North Birmingham, AL Phone: 205-801-5165 Website: www.mrsbsonfourth.com

Nelson Brothers Cafe Arguably the best breakfast in Birmingham; salmon croquettes, rice & gravy, pancakes are just a few of the many home cooked meals served.

Cuisine: Soul Food Price Range: Days & Hours: Monday - Friday 7:30 AM - 5 PM Saturday 6 AM - 2 PM Address: 312 17th Street North Birmingham, AL Phone: 205-254-9098

Original Green Acres Cafe The original location of a three-cafe chain. First opened in 1915, it was one of the earliest black businesses in this district.

Cuisine: Soul Food Price Range: Days & Hours: Monday - Saturday 9 AM - 11 PM Address: 2724 29th Avenue North Birmingham, AL Phone: 205-328-8099 Website: www.greenacrescafe.com

Larry’s Fish Pot & Barbecue What this restaurant lacks in décor, it makes up for in good food. There are only a few tables so most customers order to go. Excellent BBQ, fried fish & collard greens. You get a lot on your plate for your money.

Cuisine: Soul Food Price Range: Days & Hours: Wednesday - Thursday 10 AM - 9 PM Friday - Saturday 10 AM - 11 PM Address: 2300 9th Avenue North, Bessemer, AL Phone: 205-424-9613

Photo // Janine Robinson

The Arts and Entertainment A

labama Jazz & Soul has a rich Black Music history anchored in greater Birmingham and Montgomery. Nat King Cole, Lionel Hampton, Erskine Hawkins, Clarence “Pinetop” Smith and Sonny Blount (Sun Ra) dotted the musical landscape as performing artists here. The many clubs on Fourth Avenue and Tuxedo Junction made Birmingham an essential stop on the Chitlin’ Circuit during Segregation. Performers such as Duke Ellington, Lucky Millender, Claude Hopkins, Jimmy Lunceford, Fess Whatley (Southland Greatest Swing Band) and Louis Armstrong were known to frequent the Masonic Temple.

In 1956, Nat King Cole returned to Alabama, where his integrated group played to a segregated audience in the municipal auditorium in Birmingham. Unfortunately at that time of high racial tensions, trouble was to be expected. Four members of the White Citizens Council attacked him on the stage. Although hurt, Cole returned to the stage after the assailants were removed

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and completed his performance before the large audience. After the show, Cole vowed never to return to the South. An incident like that partially explains why so many talented Black musical artists who grew up in Alabama left.

Maybe it’s something in the water, because more talent always sprang forward. Who can ever forget the silky smooth tenor of Eddie Kendricks of the The Temptations. No disrespect to the current Temptations tenor, but every Temptations fan knows that Eddie’s voice was irreplaceable. The word “smooth” fails to describe the remarkable pure voice of that skinny beloved tenor.

As important as their contributions are, Alabama has another surprising Soul Music legacy that was kept an important secret for many years.

Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section began recording in 1965 in a community 60 miles northeast of Birmingham. Though you could never tell by their soulful sound famous for their rhythm and horns,

the original members Jimmy Johnson, David Hood, Barry Beckett and Roger Hawkins, were white. A long list of Soul, Blues and Gospel artists trekked here to record instrumentals for hit songs and albums. Here’s a small sample: • Etta James – Tell Mama • Percy Sledge – When a Man Loves a Woman • Wilson Pickett – Mustang Sally • Aretha Franklin – Chain of Fools • Patti Labelle – Dreamer • The Staple Singers – I’ll Take You There • Luther Ingram – If Loving You is Wrong, I Don’t Want to Be Right • Bobby Womack – Understanding • Millie Jackson – Hurts So Good • The Dells – Give Your Baby a Standing Ovation • Eddie Floyd – Baby Lay Your Head Down • Johnnie Taylor – Super Taylor • The Emotions – Untouched • James Brown – It’s Too Funky In Here • Bobby Blue Bland – Members Only • Ahmad Jamal – Digital Works • Bobbi Humphrey – City Beat • Mississippi Mass Choir – Live in Jackson, MS

Since good rhythm and horns are essential to most music, the services of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios were gleefully welcome to hit folk, pop, country and gospel artists as well.

Visitors should know more about this bright part of Alabama’s history. You are nicely reminded of these diamond-like contributions of our musical heritage at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and the Eddie Kendricks & Temptations Memorial. These days, you can also enjoy Alabama Jazz & Soul Music at Steel City JazzFest each June.

Photo // Jorge Zapata

Photo // Konstantin Aal

Photo // SeppH

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January

Birmingham Events

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration - Annual community gathering to honor the civil rights leader; Birmingham

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Jun e Juneteenth Celebration - A major street fair, picnic and cultural celebration sponsored by Birmingham Civil Rights Institute; Kelly Ingram Park; www.bcri.org City Stages - Birmingham’s world class music festival; past performers include Ruben Studdard, Al Green, Kanye West, De La Soul, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic; Birmingham; www.citystages.org

February Black History Month - Series of programs sponsored by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute; www.bcri.org Mardi Gras Celebration Birmingham Civil Rights Institute www.bcri.org

September Taste of 4th Avenue Jazz Festival A premier jazz fest in the Birmingham Civil Rights District; www.justataste.org Annual Native American Dance and Crafts Festival - Desoto Caverns Park; www.bcvb.org

October Magic City Football Classic - Annual head-smacking game between Alabama State and Alabama A&M; pre-game festivities includes a major parade; Birmingham, AL; www.soulofamerica.com/events/ black-college-football-classics/

December Kwanzaa - Begins 12/26; 7-day celebration of African American culture at various venues; Birmingham Civil Rights Institute; www.soulofamerica.com/events/ kwanzaa-celebrations/

November Fred Shuttlesworth Awards Dinner - Annual celebration of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute’s anniversary and a day to honor Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth; Birmingham; www.bcri.org

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Welcome To

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Alabama State Capital 17

Montgomery Cultural Sites Rosa Parks Museum, Library, Museum & Historic Site Constructed on the site of the old Empire Theatre, and in front of the bus stop where Parks was arrested for keeping her seat in 1955.

There is a marker at the arrest site. Exhibits tell the story of her bravery and the bravery of other civil rights activists and events.

Artifacts include an original copy of the Rosa Parks’ finger prints taken by police when she was arrested, as well as a vintage 1950’s Montgomery bus like the one Rosa Parks rode on. Wait for a tour by the museum director, who is knowledgeable about the Civil Rights Movement. This site is located on the campus of Troy State University.

Freedom Rides Museum Located at the historic Montgomery Greyhound Bus Station and opened on its 50th anniversary, where on 20 May 1961, an integrated group of 21 college students from Nashville arrived to protest segregationist laws in the South. The Freedom Riders encountered mob violence, but responded with non-violence and courage to help end racial segregation in all interstate transportation.

Their methods and courage continue to inspire nonviolent protest to change unjust laws worldwide; an award-winning exhibit on the building’s exterior traces the Freedom Rides history — it uses the words and images of Freedom Riders and those who opposed them.

Exhibits add additional information on the Freedom Rides and the way in which buildings were designed for racial segregation at that time. Share Your Story, an interactive video exhibit, will capture and show thoughts from riders, witnesses, and museum visitors.

Alabama State University Founded in Marion, Alabama in 1874 as a normal school and university for “colored” students and teachers; relocated to Montgomery in 1887

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Civil Rights Memorial Center The center expands the experience of the Memorial honoring the memory and achievements of those who lost their lives during the Civil Rights Movement. State-of-the-art exhibits and information about Civil Rights Movement martyrs, a 69-seat theater, a classroom for educational activities, a section dedicated to contemporary social justice issues and the. Located behind the center is the Wall of Tolerance Memorial honoring those who died during the Civil Rights Movement. A circular black granite table records the names of the martyrs of the Movement and chronicles the history of the Movement in lines that radiate like the hands of a clock. On a curved, black granite wall behind the table is engraved Dr. King’s wellknown paraphrase of Amos Verse 5:24 – “We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Southern Poverty Law Center First begun as a small civil rights law firm, it is now internationally known for its tolerance education programs, legal victories against white supremacist groups, tracking of hate groups, and sponsorship of the Civil Rights Memorial. The center was founded by Morris Dees and Joe Levin, two local lawyers who shared a commitment to racial equality. Its first president was civil rights activist Julian Bond.

True heroes, Dees and Levin helped implement the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

National Center for the Study of Civil Rights & African-American Culture Its mission is to serve as a clearinghouse for information concerning Montgomery’s pivotal role in the shaping of the Modern Civil Rights Movement, and to preserve and disseminate information reflective of socioeconomic conditions, political culture and history of AfricanAmericans in Montgomery. Exhibits include the E.D. Nixon Collection from the “Father of the Montgomery Bus Boycott”; located on Alabama State University campus.

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Montgomery Heritage Sites 252 Montgomery Street

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On 1 December 1955, Rosa Parks boarded the bus on Dexter Avenue at Court Square after a long workday as a seamstress at Montgomery Fair Department Store. After the bus traveled three blocks, it stopped at 252 Montgomery Street, where Rosa Parks was made to leave the bus for violating the city’s segregation laws and arrested.

When found guilty on 5 December 1955, Rosa Parks was fined $10 plus a court cost of $4, but she appealed. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was triggered by her arrest and became the third major event of the modern Civil Rights Movement. The first major event, Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court Decision in May 1954, provided a legal basis for the boycott and other protests and fundraisers to end Jim Crow practices in America. The second major event was the brutal murder of Emmitt Till in Mississippi in August 1955, followed by his open casket funeral in Chicago — whose photograph was published in nearly every black newspaper and magazine. the site where Rosa Parks was removed from the bus is now home to Rosa Parks Museum & Library at Troy State University. Rosa and husband Raymond Parks, a barber and NAACP worker, were living at 634 Cleveland Court at the time of her arrest.

The Montgomery Improvement Association was formed and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was named its president at this church; during the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, marchers rested at the church on their way to the State Capitol, so it is included on the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail; the congregation moved to a new location (455 West Jeff Davis Ave) in 1990, and in 2002, the building was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places; sides of the building are decorated with murals depicting Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and the Selma to Montgomery marches

Court Square

Dr. E.D. Nixon Residence

Despite its mundane plaza appearance today, this was a slave auction site before the Civil War and the location of Montgomery Fair Department Store where Rosa Parks worked until the day of her arrest in December 1955

Home of the key NAACP official who was known as the planning leader of the Montgomery Bus Boycott; he counseled and worked closely with Dr. King to navigate local politics and logistics to make the boycott successful; curbside viewing only

Mount Zion AME Zion Church

First Ladies of Montgomery Bus Boycott Marker It’s so easy to think of Rosa Parks as the Mother of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, but that would be untrue; Mary Fairbanks, M.B. Bradford, Jo Ann Robinson, Aurelia S. Browder, Mary Louise Smith, Claudette Colvin, and Susie McDonald played pioneering roles before Rosa Parks and these heroic women did so without support from the NAACP; in 1949, Mary Fairbanks, chair of the English Department at Alabama State University, formed the Women’s Political Council of Black Women in Montgomery; in 1950, M.B. Bradford was arrested in Montgomery in violation of bus segregation laws and Jo Ann Robinson, after being mistreated on a Montgomery bus, became President of Women’s Political Council, then vowed to dismantle segregation laws; in 1955, Claudette Colvin and Aurelia S. Browder were arrested/forced to give their seats to white riders; a marker honoring Aurelia Browder and the other ladies has recently been placed in front of her home.

Centennial Hill Historic District In it’s heyday it was the neighborhood for prominent black homes and businesses; this district has national importance because the residents of this community put up the first money to fund the Bus Boycott before national money rolled in to help; its nexus was the intersection of Jackson and High Streets; Malden Brothers Barbershop is one of the oldest remaining businesses in the district

City of St. Jude During the 3rd and successful 1955 Selma to Montgomery March for Voting Rights, the grounds of this small city and Catholic social services complex became a haven for more than 30,000 civil rights marchers; famed entertainer Harry Belafonte organized artists for a “Stars for Freedom Rally” on the grounds; artists who attended included Mahalia Jackson; Sammy Davis Jr., Sidney Poitier, Nipsey Russell, James Baldwin, Alan King, Dick Gregory, Billy Eckstein, Tony Bennett, Leonard Benrstein, Lena Horne, Johnny Mathis, Nina Simone and Shelley Winters; many well-known freedom songs such as Oh, Freedom and the late Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna’ Come, were led by The SNCC Freedom Singers; far more than an artist, Belafonte raised thousands of dollars in bail money for the Freedom Riders, Dr. King and others in the Civil Rights Movement; today the campus building serves as a St. Jude Educational Institute, a Roman Catholic high school.

Nat King Cole’s Residence Childhood home of Nat King Cole (19191965), the great singer famous for such songs as “Mona Lisa” and “The Christmas Song”; Nat King Cole was the first Black entertainer to own a home in Beverly Hills and the 2nd to have their own national TV program; now part of Alabama State University, curbside viewing only

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Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church

Dexter Ave. King Memorial Baptist Church

The church was founded in 1877 in slave trader’s pen; in 1879, the Church’s trustees purchased this lot for $270 on the corner of Dexter Avenue and Decatur Streets; in 1887, the first registration of students for Alabama State University (then the Alabama Colored Peoples University) was held in the lower unit of the church; the Church’s first name, Second Colored Baptist Church, was later changed to Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, when Market Street became Dexter Avenue in honor of Andrew Dexter, founder of the city; in 1978, the name was changed to Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, in memory of its 20th pastor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who pastored here from 1954 to 1960 during the epicenter of the civil rights movement in Montgomery; in the basement is Dr. King’s original pulpit podium; in 1980, artist and Dexter deacon John W. Feagin, painted a large 10’ by 47’ mural in the church basement depicting scenes of Dr. King’s leadership in the Civil Rights Movement from Montgomery to Memphis; there are select memorabilia available in the church gift shop.

Mount Zion AME Zion Church The Montgomery Improvement Association was formed and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was named its president at this church; during the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, marchers rested at the church on their way to the State Capitol, so it is included on the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail; the congregation moved to a new location (455 West Jeff Davis Ave) in 1990, and in 2002, the building was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places; sides of the building are decorated with murals depicting Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and the Selma to Montgomery marches

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Mount Zion AME Zion Church

First Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Residence

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Residence Dexter Avenue Baptist Church Parsonage was Dr. King’s residence from September 1954 to February 1960. King was new to Montgomery when Rosa Parks was arrested on 1 December 1955. Dr. King hadn’t developed any enemies or debts, which made him a natural to lead the Montgomery Improvement Association who organized of the bus boycott; nevertheless, leading the bus boycott put the King family at risk. On 31 January 1956, a bomb exploded on the front porch of this home, knocking out two front windows. Though inside the house, his wife and oldest daughter were uninjured.

King was leading a mass meeting at First Baptist Church several blocks away when the bomb went off. After rushing home, a huge agitated crowd gathered in front.

King quickly settled them down and sent everyone home peacefully. The home is restored to look as it did when the King family lived here.

Found in 1867 as an alternative to discrimination African-Americans faced at the other First Baptist Church in the city; from 1952 to 1961, the church was led by civil rights activist Rev. Ralph Abernathy — a good friend of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; John Lewis, who had been active at American Baptist College and Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, was planning to enroll at Troy State University in an attempt to desegregate the school, and was invited to Montgomery; at First Baptist Church he met Abernathy and Dr. King; on 21 May 21 1961, the church was a refuge for Freedom Riders who were violently met at Montgomery Greyhound Bus Station; filled with 1500 worshipers & activists, the building was besieged by 3000 whites who threatened to burn it with Dr. King, Abernathy, Wyatt Tee Walker, and James Farmer also there; a call was placed to U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy while bricks were thrown through the windows; RFK quickly sent U.S. marshals to keep the mob at bay until later dispersed by the Alabama National Guard; events that day played a crucial part in the desegregation of interstate travel that we take for granted today.

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Montgomery Shops and

Restaurants Malden Brothers Barber Shop Nelson Malden, was Martin Luther King’s barber when in Montgomery.

Malden was a student at Alabama State University during the Civil Rights Movement and has a wealth of pictures on the barbershop walls and in photo albums. Some of his photos came from a customer who worked for the State Department. There’s even a picture of Whoopi Goldberg who stopped by while filming The Long Walk Home; stop in for a haircut and listen to his animated stories about that historic time.

Days & Hours: Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 8 AM - 5 PM Saturday 8 AM - 4 PM Address: 407 South Jackson Street, Montgomery, AL Phone: 334-262-9249

Brenda’s Bar-B-Que Pit This barbecue pit took over where Sophia’s bar-b-qua left off.

Its a casual restaurant offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the average meal costing under $10-15. You can also order online.

Cuisine: Soul Food and Seafood Price Range: Days & Hours: Tuesday – Thursday 10:30 AM –7 PM Friday – Saturday 10:30 AM – 9 PM Address: 1457 Mobile Road, Montgomery, AL Phone: 334-262-9349

Martha’s Place Located in an inviting southern home setting, Martha Hawkins offers up home-style southern fare to visitors from all over the world.

Check out the wall of photos of famous patrons, like actress Whoopi Goldberg and articles describing how Hawkins first starting selling meals out of her house to get off of welfare.

Cuisine: Soul Food and BBQ Price Range: Days & Hours: Monday - Saturday 11 AM – 8 PM Sunday 10:20 AM - 3 PM Address: 458 Sayre Street, Montgomery, AL Phone: 334-263-9135

Butterfly Inn B&B Isaiah and Johnnie Sankey, both with HBCU and nursing backgrounds, put the “C” in customer service at this delightful inn. Book any of seven different rooms, each having their own decor with colorful names like European Peacock, Red Admiral and Zebra Butterfly. Meals are prepared by the owners.

Features: Full Breakfast, Cable TV, WiFi, Parking Price Range: Address: 135 Mildred Street, Montgomery, AL Phone: 334-265-9000 Website: On Facebook

Odessa’s Blessings Restaurant; similar to the southern home setting of Martha’s Place.

Entrees include: meat loaf, beef tips, fried chicken, beef stew, spaghetti pie, shrimp gumbo, fried fish, and turkey & dressing served with cornbread or rolls. A typical meal costs $5.

Cuisine: Soul Food Price Range: Days & Hours: Monday - Friday 10:30 AM - 2 PM Address: 726 Forest Avenue, Montgomery, AL Phone: 334-265-7726 Website: www.odessasblessings.com

Mission House Event location featuring different rooms for any special occasion. Whether you want to jazz up a family reunion or enliven a corporate gathering, you can count on this venue for an exceptional celebration. Their commitment is to offer an excellent location where you and your loved ones can enjoy being together.

Address: 461 South Court Street, Montgomery, AL Phone: 334-356-6869 Website: missionhousemontgomery.com

Travel today to discover these amazing locations.

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Montgomery Events

January

February

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration - Annual community gathering to honor the civil rights leader; www.king-raleigh.org/ natlevent

Black History Month - Various events celebrating Black History www.visitingmontgomery.com

March

Flimp Festival - Sponsored by the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts; featuring art, entertainment and children’s activities; Blout Cultural Park; www.visitingmontgomery.com

Annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee Festival and parade celebrates the Selma to Montgomery March, Bloody Sunday, & The Voting Rights Act; Congressman John Lewis, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, Rev. Joseph Lowery, Johnny Cochran, Harry Belafonte, Chris Tucker, President Bill Clinton, Sen. Barak Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Outkast, Amelia Boynton, and Russell Simmons have all attended. Selma www.thebridgecrossingjubilee.org

April

Jubilee Cityfest - Featuring Blues, Jazz, Gospel, R&B, KidsFest, ArtFest, Jubilee Run, “Thunder Over The River” fireworks, Sunrise Celebration Service, plenty of food and more; Montgomery; www.jubileecityfest.org

Jun e Juneteenth - Annual celebration of African American culture; Montgomery & Selma. www.juneteenth.com

Septemb er Alabama Jazz and Blues Federation River Jam - Downtown Montgomery www.visitingmontgomery.com

O c to b er Alabama National Fair Garrett Coliseum; www.alnationalfair.org Riverfront Arts & Food Festival Activities include over 100 exhibitors, a young artists gallery for the kids, special performances for children and lots of food; Riverfront Park; www.festivalinthepark.com

July Stars on the Riverfront Riverfront Amphitheater; www.visitingmontgomery.com

December Montgomery Holiday Parade - Floats in the parade include local school groups, local dance/gymnastic groups, civic organizations and local high school & college bands; Dexter Avenue; www.visitingmontgomery.com Kwanzaa - Celebration of the African American tradition; Montgomery and Selma; www.soulofamerica.com/ events/kwanzaa-celebrations/

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Welcome To

Mobile

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History of Mobile

L

ike most of early America, Mobile History begins with Native Americans welcoming European explorers, then unsuccessfully defending their land against European settlers.

In 1519, Spaniard Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, with four ships, sails from Jamaica to explore the northern Gulf Coast. Among his discoveries are the River and Bay of Espiritu Santo, identifiable as Mobile River and Mobile Bay. Pineda remains forty days in a large Indian village at the mouth of the river, trading with the natives while repairing his ships. In 1528, Panfilo de Narvaez, in a fleet of makeshift boats, coasts by the mouth of Mobile Bay. He contacts, trades with, and fights local Indians, who are mainly fishermen.

Between 1685-1693, in response to the threat of French presence on the Gulf Coast, the Spanish, based in northern Florida, commission reconnaissance, which resulted in the re-exploration of Mobile Bay. But a settlement did not ensue immediately. By 1699, the French colony of Louisiana is established.

The main settlement is first at Biloxi, then later moved to 27-mile bluff on the Mobile River. The French explore Dauphin Island, Mobile Bay, and the Mobile River Delta, establishing friendly relations with the native inhabitants.

The City of Mobile was founded in 1702 by the French in their bid for American Empire. In 1711, the settlement moved to its present location where the Mobile River and Mobile Bay meet, making it an important center for the Louisiana Territory.

One of the principal streets in the new settlement was Dauphin, named for the son of King Louis XIV. Under the Spaniards who ruled from 1780-1813 the street was St. John or Galvez Street. When Americans took possession of the land in 1813, the street was renamed Dauphin.

In 1762, the English blockaded Mobile Bay and seized the land. France ceded Louisiana to Spain, but the English held on to Mobile. Next year, the French Government signed the Treaty of Paris by which Mobile was organized as a part of British West Florida.

Since the founding of the city to 1800, Mobile had imported a significant share of the 1 million Africans brought to America for slavery. As a major port on the Gulf of Mexico, most Africans imported here were targeted at the thriving cotton and rice plantations of Alabama. European American citizens enjoyed wealth from all the commerce, as the city’s principal commercial corridor, Dauphin Street acquired a national reputation for exceptional quality. In 1806 the oldest Black church in lower Alabama and one of the oldest in America was founded, Stone Street Baptist Church.

Though interrupted by a great fire in 1839, Mobile enjoyed prosperity from 1815-1861 as the second largest international seaport on the Gulf Coast. Cotton, rice and lumber growing centers in Mississippi and Alabama shipped those commodities down river for exportation at the Port of Mobile. An excellent location in lower Mobile Bay for vessels requiring deep anchorage, the number of wharves increases to more than forty.

Further driving the engine of commerce was the completion of the Mobile and Ohio railroad during this period.

Plans for the settlement of La Mobile - 1702

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In 1860, a ship called the Clotilde carrying 116 African slaves sailed into the Mobile harbor.

Though slavery was legal in the South at that time, importing slaves had been barred since 1808, making the ship’s arrival a breach of federal law. Some assert that the ship’s captain transferred slaves from the ship into Mobile, others contend that the crew abandoned ship.

All agree the Clotilde was burned and sunk to hide the crime.

A handful of those Africans escaped bondage to settle in Magazine Point, which was considered undesirable swamp land near Mobile. Today, their descendants call the area Africatown. Its cemetery has the graves of Clotilde’s descendants’ and all of the headstones face the Bay, as if gazing toward that ship.

Due to its highly fortified entrance to Mobile Bay, staunch military leadership and location on a bluff, in 1865 Mobile was the last major Confederate city to surrender to Union forces during the Civil War.

Cemetery located in Africatown, Alabama The Church Street District is a historic Black neighborhood, the Henry Aaron Loop, named after the native Mobilian and official MLB All-time Home Run King, encircles the downtown area.

Old Patton Hall belonged to one of the wealthiest Black families in Mobile. There are several noteworthy cemeteries including the Veteran’s and Church Street Cemeteries, two of the oldest containing the remains of many Civil War veterans, Joe Cain, and several Buffalo Soldiers. And the

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old Central High School, now called Bishop State Community College, stands as one of 14 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the state.

Mobile seemed to be less affected by the Civil Rights Movement. That is not to say that Mobile lacked racial issues, rather that the city had less extreme racial issues due to its location at the southern tip of the state and racially diverse maritime commerce after the Civil War. Some long-time residents say that during the Civil Rights Movement, many prominent Black Mobilians disagreed with the methods utilized to bring about social change. Moreover, it has been said that at one time Dr. King wanted to speak in Mobile, but a group of local Black clergy composed a letter asking him not to come. They believed that his methods were too divisive for their community. In all likelihood their real fear was violent repercussions like the Civil Rights Movement experienced in Birmingham and Montgomery.

Today, African Americas have become a political force in Mobile. from the President of the City Council, to the County Commission, School Board, and Chief of Police and Convention & Visitors Bureau. More brothers and sisters are returning to live here.

Mobile Cultural Sites National African-American Archives Museum Housed in the Davis Avenue Branch of the Mobile Public Library built in 1931, the museum covers numerous contributions African Americans have made to Mobile and the voyage of the last known illegal slave ship, the Clotilde, which docked in Mobile in 1859; Mobile’s rich, culturally diverse history has produced such famous personalities as Hank Aaron, the former Major League Baseball home run leader, and U.S. Labor Secretary Alexis Herman, which are both represented in the museum’s collection, as well as African American carvings, Indonesian fabrics, the James Bivens Collection, the History of the Colored Carnival (Mardi Gras), showcases of African royalties, a “Remember When” exhibit, a 7-piece lavatory set, and numerous other interesting memorabilia; the building designed by the famed George Bigelow Rogers, is an artifact itself; listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

Hank Aaron Stadium Mobile has an incredible baseball tradition and is the home of the Mobile BayBears farm team of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Built in 1997, this 6,000 seat stadium includes a Hall of Fame Circle with monuments to namesake Hank Aaron, Satchel Paige, Willie McCovey, Billy Williams and Ozzie Smith, all born in Mobile and inducted into the Major League Baseball Baseball Hall of Fame. The stadium is unique in that the luxury suites are at field level, while infield seating for the general public is elevated by twenty feet. In a nice touch, Hank Aaron’s childhood home was moved to the stadium grounds in 2010 and serves as de facto museum. It is renovated into a museum that highlights Aaron’s accomplishments on the field, his family and baseball in Mobile

Bishop State Black History Museum Bishop State’s Central Campus is located on the site of the Old Central High School; contains artifacts of early Black Mobilians and focuses on the development of Davis Avenue; artifacts, manuscripts, audio and visual arts are on display.

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Mobile’s Historic Sites

Slave Market Site // St. Louis Street at Royal Street Since the cities founding a century slave-holders met to trade slaves for commerce on this site.

Though federal legislation officially ended the importation of slaves in 1808, there were flagrant violations of the law until 1860. Slave trade remained very active in Mobile for decades longer.

Hawthorne House // 352 Stanton Road Built in 1853, the house — a rather simply detailed Gulf Coast Cottage — was occupied by the Reverend Joshua Kedar Hawthorne, a White minister who moved to Mobile from Conecuh County where he reputedly worked with free Black churches.

Mobile Public Library // 564 Davis Avenue Built in 1931 to serve the needs of the African American community the Davis Avenue branch library is a small-scale version of the local public library. It reflects a social climate where African Americans were provided with separate educational facilities.

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Mount Vernon Arsenal-Searcy Hospital Complex // Coy Smith Highway Called Fort Stoddert in 1799, it was renamed Mt. Vernon Arsenal in 1828. During the Civil War it was seized by Confederate troops, but was returned to the federal government after the war. Later the state legislature established Mt. Vernon Hospital to relieve overcrowding at Bryce Hospital, the state psychiatric facility. Mt. Vernon was designated exclusively for the care of the African-American mentally ill, until it was desegregated in 1969.

Africatown // Union Missionary Baptist Church, Plateau, AL The heritage of a people brought from the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa to Mobile on a slave ship still lives on in Africatown.

This area, about 3 miles north of Mobile, received its name because of its African population and culture. On the night of July 9, 1860, the slave ship Clotilde, headed by Captain William Foster, entered Mobile Harbor. Due to the outlaw of African slave trade since 1808, Captain Foster had to transfer the slaves from the ship into a riverboat to bring them into Mobile. He then burned and sunk the Clotilde. Once sold to those interested in the Clotilde expedition, these enslaved Africans–intelligent, hardworking and industrious people — created their own neighborhood at Magazine Point, a community that still lives on today. In fact, many descendants of Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis, the last survivor of the Clotilde, still reside here and a bust of him sits in front.

Hunter House // 503 St. Francis Street This two-story Italianate home matches in scale, character and architectural detail White owned Mobile residences of the period. It is also significant for its association with Bettie Hunter, an affluent 19th-century Black business woman.

Bragg-Mitchell Mansion // 1906 Springhill Avenue Built in 1855, the Bragg family split their time between this Mansion and their cotton plantation in Lowndes County outside of Montgomery.

Judge Bragg died in 1878, and four additional families have owned the home since his passing.

The last private owner was the A.S. Mitchell family who purchased the home and property in 1931 and occupied it until 1965 — during that time, the Mansion became an icon of the city.

This restored twenty room mansion is adorned with period furnishings, artwork, double parlors, a lavish dining room, stenciled moldings and grounds with Mobile’s trademark live oaks and azaleas. Given its construction period and location, a number of Black craftsmen were involved in building this National Historic Landmark.

Whistler // Area surrounding Whistler Street and Wasson Avenue, Whistler, AL Alabama’s largest historically Black town with a number of historic sites.

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Mobile’s Places of Worship State Street AME Church // 502 State Street Constructed in 1854, this church is one of the most imposing antebellum structures built for a Black congregation in Alabama. It is also one of the oldest AME churches established in the city prior to the Civil War.

Stone Street Baptist Church // 311 Tunstall Street The congregation’s history dates back to 1806, and the church was redesigned in 1931 at the height of the Depression by laymen who made inventive use of limited resources.

Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church // 2756 Old Shell Road Another of the Pre-Civil War Black churches in Mobile and the oldest Missionary Baptist church in the city

St. Louis Street Missionary Baptist Church // 108 North Dearborn Street One of four Black congregations established in Alabama prior to 1865. The present building, completed in 1872, hosted the 1874 session of the Colored Baptist Convention which voted to establish Selma University Big Zion AME Zion Church // 112 South Bayou Street Built in 1842, the church was first called Little Zion; it was renamed in1896, after extensive renovation and expansion added the current Romanesque and Gothic exterior.

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Union Missionary Baptist Church // 506 Bay Bridge Road Located in historic Africatown, the front of the church is home to the bust of Cudjoe Lewis, the last living descendant of the Clotilde slave ship.

Emmanuel AME Church // 656 St. Michael Street Built by Mobile architect James F. Hutchisson between 1881 and 1891, the building is representative of mid-19th century architecture, which took medieval building traditions as models.

Mobile Events

January GMAC Bowl - Annual football game featuring a series of events leading up to the big game; Ladd Peebles Stadium; www.gmacbowl.com Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration of the life of the civil rights leader; Mobile; www.kingraleigh.org/ natlevent/body.cfm Mardi Gras - Mobile’s first Mardi Gras celebration dates back to 1703 and includes parades and Mardi Gras Balls; www.mardigrasmobile.com Mobile Senior Bowl - The Senior Bowl is the nation’s most unique football game and one of football’s premier pre-draft event features senior collegiate football players on teams representing the North and the South and an NFL scouting confab; LaddPeebles Stadium; www.seniorbowl.com

October BayFest - Blues, rock, country, alternative, gospel, bluegrass, Zydeco and more wash over you for three beautiful Fall days and nights, with over 100 national and local acts on 7 stages; Downtown Mobile; www.bayfest.com National Shrimp Festival - Annual festival for the past 32 years; featuring wonderful seafood, fine arts, musical entertainment, an International Marketplace, Children’s Art Village and more; Gulf Shores Alabama Public Beach; www.nationalshrimpfestival.com Greater Gulf State Fair - Annual fair featuring musical entertainment, food, carnival rides, petting zoo and more; Mobile; www.mobilefair.com

December Kwanzaa - Annual celebration of the African American traditions and values; Mobile; www.soulofamerica. com/events/kwanzaa-celebrations/

February Black History Month - Various events celebrating Black History www.mobile.org

April Arts Alive! - Cathedral Square Arts District offers three days of varied artistic experiences and interactive and hands-on activities; www.artsalivemobile.com

May Dauphin Island Arts Festival Juried fine art festival at Cadillac Square Park on Dauphin Island; www.dauphinislandcoc.com Gulf Coast Zydeco Music & Crawfish Festival - Zydeco bands, Creole/Cajun food, free dance instruction, a parade, vendors and more.

June

Juneteenth - Annual celebration of African American culture; Mobile; www.juneteenth.com or www.cityofmobile.org Jazz Jambalaya - Salute to jazz greats at Gulf City Lodge at 601 State Street; www.mojomobile.multiply.com

August Gulf Coast Ethnic & Heritage Jazz Festival - Featuring great jazz music, an evening of poetry, food and more; several Mobile locations; www.gcehjazzfest.com

November Mobile International Festival - An indoor educational and cultural event representing over 60 countries and emphasizing four areas: cuisine, continuous entertainment on two stages, cultural booths and handson-art; Mobile Convention Center; www.mobileinternationalfestival.org

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Welcome To

Selma

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Selma Attractions National Voting Rights Museum & Institute // 1012 Water Avenue Near the foot of Edmund Pettus Bridge, the museum houses exhibits on the people and events that brought about voting rights for all Americans, regardless of race, education, or income. It includes exhibits on “Bloody Sunday,” AfricanAmericans in government and memorials to those who died during the struggle. It hosts the annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee in March. Take the see the historic civil rights sites of Selma and have lunch with a history-maker. The Bed & Breakfast Tour for $100 per night lets you spend the night in the home of a history-maker, then listen to their stories.

Selma University // 1501 Lapsley Street Founded by the Alabama Colored Baptist Convention in 1866 to train ministers and Christian teachers, it is oldest traditional black junior college in the U.S.

Tabernacle Baptist Church // 1431 Broad Street Established in 1894, this church was the site of the first mass meeting on voting rights in 1964 hosted by Rev. L. L. Anderson, when others were afraid to do so; prior to 1st mass meeting, this was the site of training for non-violent protests; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and James Baldwin also spoke here Brown YMCA // 1133 Minter Avenue Formed in 1947 as Selma’s first Black branch of the YMCA.

Slavery & Civil War Museum // 1410 Water Ave. Opened in 2002, and provides written, oral, and visual displays and of the history of slavery and the Civil War. It includes a traveling 52-piece art collection “Middle Passage” by Tom Feelings.

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Brown Chapel AME Church & Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Statue // 410 Martin Luther King St. Brown Chapel was organized by freed men in 1866 after the Civil War. The current edifice by a Black architect A.J. Farley, was built in 1908 and is noted for its imposing twin towers and Romanesque Revival exterior. With its proximity to downtown and Edmond Pettus Bridge, this church was the staging ground for the historic Selma to Montgomery Marches of the Civil Rights Movement. Despite a ban on protest marches by Governor George Wallace, the first march led by SCLC’s Hosea Williams and SNCC’s John Lewis took place on 7 March 1965, known as “Bloody Sunday” — 600 civil rights marchers were attacked by state and local police with billy clubs and tear gas 6 blocks away on Edmond Pettus Bridge. John Lewis’ skull was fractured in the melee as many white onlookers cheered. When national TV programming was interrupted that night to showcase the events, the nation’s disapproving eyes finally gazed upon the Selma and other civil rights marches.

The second march took place on 9 March 1965 but was halted at the bridge for fear of death — even though national news cameras were there; on 21 March 1965, after Governor Wallace’s ban was overruled by Federal Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr., only the third march led by Dr. King, Aberbernathy, Hosea Williams, John Lewis, interfaith ministers and a host of celebrities and made it to Montgomery, 51 miles away 5 days later. As the meeting place and offices of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the Selma Movement the church played a major role in leading to the adoption of the Voting Rights Act of August 1965. A monument to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was dedicated in front of the chapel in 1979.

Old Depot Museum // 4 Martin Luther King St. Housed in the old L & N Railroad Depot at the foot of historic Water Avenue, the museum depicts life in Selma from 1820 to the present; a tour of the museum runs the gamut from Civil War to Civil Rights.

Dallas County Courthouse // 105 Lauderdale St. Destination of most Selma protest marches for voting rights.

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Edmund Pettus Bridge and Civil Rights Memorial Park // Broad Street at Water Avenue Named after Edmund Winston Pettus, a Confederate general and U.S. senator from this city. The bridge is famous during the Voting Rights March from Selma to Montgomery where marchers were violently attacked by Alabama state troopers at the foot of the bridge on 7 March 1965. That day is known as “Bloody Sunday.” On Sunday 21 March 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led 600 marchers across this bridge, by the time it successfully concluded in Montgomery, the numbers swelled to 25,000, whom Dr. King addressed from the steps of the Alabama State Capitol. The memorial park includes murals, memorials, and walking path to commemorate the struggle for voting and civil rights.

Old City Hall // 1300 Alabama Avenue Served as a city and county jail in which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other protestors were jailed in 1965.

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Welcome To

Tuskegee

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History of Tuskegee

T

uskegee is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. It was founded and laid out in 1833 by General Thomas Simpson Woodward, a Creek War veteran under Andrew Jackson, and made the county seat that year. It was incorporated in 1843. It is also the largest city in Macon County. At the 2010 census the population was 9,865, down from 11,846 in 2000.

Tuskegee has been an important site in African-American history and highly influential in United States history since the 19th century.

Before the American Civil War, the area was largely used as a cotton plantation, dependent on African-American slave labor. After the war, many freedmen continued to work on plantations in the rural area, which was devoted to agriculture. In 1881 the Tuskegee Normal School (now Tuskegee University, a historically black college) was founded by Lewis Adams, a former slave whose father, Jesse Adams, a slave owner, allowed him to be educated, and its first, founding principal was, Booker T. Washington who developed a national reputation and philanthropic network to support education of freedmen and their children.

In 1923, the Tuskegee Veterans Administration Medical Center was established here, initially for the estimated 300,000 African-

American veterans of World War I in the South, when public facilities were racially segregated.

Twenty-seven buildings were constructed on the 464-acre campus.

The city was the subject of a notable civil rights case, Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960), in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that the state legislature had violated the Fifteenth Amendment in 1957 by gerrymandering city boundaries as a 28-sided figure that excluded nearly all black voters and residents, and none of the white voters or residents. The city’s boundaries were restored in 1961 after the ruling.

The area was settled by European Americans in the 1830s after the Creek Native American tribes had been removed to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Pioneer planters brought or purchased African-American slaves to develop the rich soil for cotton plantations, as short-staple cotton was the chief commodity crop through the 19th century. Invention of the cotton gin at the end of the 18th century meant that this type of cotton could be processed profitably and it was adaptable to the upland areas. Designated as the county seat of rural Macon County, Tuskegee developed as its only city.

In 1881, the young Booker T. Washington was hired to develop the Tuskegee Normal

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History Class at the Tuskegee Institute School for Colored Teachers on the grounds of a former plantation. It was founded to train teachers for the segregated school system and freedmen for self-sufficiency. Washington established a work-study program by which students practiced skills and trades. Over the

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decades, the programs were expanded. This was later named the Tuskegee Institute. Graduate courses were added and it became Tuskegee University. Washington was known for his emphasis on education and self-improvement.

The institute became known for stressing a practical education with work experience by students, to prepare them for the work available in the small towns and rural areas to which most would return. Teaching was a highly respected calling, as education was a major goal among the freedmen and their children. Washington believed that African Americans would achieve acceptance by southern whites when they had raised themselves.

Washington led the school for decades, building a wide national network of white industrialist donors among some of the major philanthropists of the era, including George Eastman. At the same time, Washington secretly provided funding to the NAACP for its legal defense of some highly visible civil rights cases,

George Washington Carver - Tuskegee Institute

including supporting challenges to southern states’ discriminatory constitutions and practices that disenfranchised African Americans. Through the 1920s and 1930s, Washington worked with Julius Rosenwald and architects at the college to develop models for rural schools, to be used with Rosenwald’s matching funds to gain construction of more rural schools for black children in the South.

Beginning in 1932, the school was the site of the now-infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiment (1932–1972), started to test treatments of the disease. With funding cut by the Great Depression, the Institute staff cut back on medications to treat the disease and studied the effects of untreated syphilis on patients and their partners. In addition, participants were not informed that treatment was available for their disease after antibiotics had been developed.

One of the most famous teachers at Tuskegee was George Washington Carver, whose name is synonymous with innovative

research into Southern farming methods and the development of hundreds of commercial products derived from regional crops, including peanuts and sweet potatoes.

During World War II, Tuskegee and Tuskegee Institute were also home to the famed Tuskegee Airmen. This was the first squadron of African-American pilots trained in the U.S. Military for service in that war.

The university in the 21st century is a center of excellence for African-American education.

The heart of the university has been designated as a National Historic District and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

The Tuskegee Veterans Administration Medical Center was opened in 1923, authorized

by Congress. A total of 27 buildings were constructed on the 464-acre campus, which provided housing and a hospital to serve the needs of more than 300,000 African-American veterans in the South from World War I. It attracted doctors from top schools, such as Dr. Toussaint Tourgee Tildon, a graduate of Harvard Medical School. He was one of the first six African American doctors to work at the hospital; as director of the complex for 12 years

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(1946 – 1958), he achieved accreditation for a medical residency program at the hospital.

He also worked to ensure accessibility for graduates to good medical positions in the federal government.

In the 1930s, a group of black men from the Tuskegee Men’s Club began efforts to get more black voters registered. Beginning in 1941, the group reorganized under the name the Tuskegee Civic Association (TCA). With the group’s consistent effort to register more voters, the area’s statistics about registered black voters continued to increase. The group

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and potential voters were often met with obstacles that prevented them from being successful. The surrounding black community showed support and wanted to recognize black leaders in the community. The work of the TCA also had a huge emphasis on educating their communities on various civic duties. Though the existing support for the TCA was not often vocalized, many black community members wanted to challenge the political system that was present in Macon County. The group shed a light on the disparities in the numbers of black people applying for voter registration and those who were successful, even going as far as talking to the United States Commission on Civil Rights.

Following passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, activists had made progress in registering black voters in the city. African Americans in Tuskegee and other Alabama cities had been largely disenfranchised after passage of a new state constitution in 1901, which had requirements that were discriminatory in practice, such as poll tax and literacy tests.

In 1957 the 400 registered black voters nearly equaled white voters; a total of 1000 voters were registered. But African Americans in the city outnumbered whites on a four-to-one basis; among them were many highly educated, professional African Americans working at

Tuskegee and the VA hospital. That year, without debate and against the protests of many African Americans, the state legislature redefined the boundaries of the city; it enacted Local Law 140, creating an irregular, 28-sided city boundary that excluded 420 black voters from the city, leaving only ten black voters within the redefined boundaries. Those excluded included the entire professional staffs of the Institute and the hospital. No white voters were excluded by the change.

The law was intended to guarantee that minority whites could retain control of the city even if more blacks succeeded in the arduous process of registering to vote. Some 3,000 African American residents protested passage of the law at a church in Tuskegee; they also began an economic boycott of white businesses in the city. The boycott was referred to as a “selective buying campaign” due to the fact that boycotting was illegal under state law. It lasted about four years, during which twentysix businesses operated by white proprietors closed down.

African Americans also organized to challenge the law in court, in a case supported by the NAACP. The law was initially upheld

by the US District Court and affirmed by the Appeals Court based in New Orleans. Known as Gomillion v. Lightfoot, it was decided by the US Supreme Court in 1960, with the ruling implemented in 1961. The court ruled that the gerrymandering of city boundaries was racially motivated and violated the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which states that “states were not insulated from federal judicial review when they jeopardized federally protected rights.“ The exclusionary gerrymandering was overturned and the city restored to its previous boundaries.

This case was cited in the later Baker v.

Carr (1964), in which the Supreme Court ruled that Tennessee’s malapportionment of election districts violated civil rights. It ruled that representation in both houses of all state legislatures had to be based on population, under the “one man, one vote” doctrine, and that such districts had to be regularly updated to reflect population changes.

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Pan African American Travel Club

www.panafricanamericantravel.net

Our Mission The Pan African American Travel Club celebrates the culture and history of the people of the African Diaspora. The African Diaspora being defined as people of African descent in Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, South America, Central America, and North America. The Pan African American Travel Club was developed to educate, assist and encourage cultural heritage travelers to explore the rich and vibrant cultures of Pan Africa!

The Art, the Food, and the Music are unequal in their creativity and excellence! Go See Pan Africa!!

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Want To Find The Best Prices for Your Hotel or Resort? Look No Further!

Click, Clack. Click Clack. Oh, don’t mind the noise – that’s just me aimlessly tapping on my laptops keyboard. Like most Americans when we get ready to book our travel plans for hotel / resorts we visit several booking portals to find the best deals. Wow! Look at all those different hotel/ resort booking portals just to find the best hotel/ resort deals.

How is this happening? The travel and tourism industry is one of the world’s largest industries with a global economic contribution (direct, indirect and induced) of over 7.6 trillion U.S. dollars in 2016. But the biggest development is that travel sites keep swallowing one another with the avarice - extreme greed for wealth or material gain.

This can’t be, eight sites and just two prices?

Why is that? It’s simple really! What I have learned is the members of the general public book their hotels on the Internet through an Online Travel Agency (OTA) such as Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Priceline.com, Trivago, TripAdvisor and others. There are hundreds of them. But did you know just two companies, Expedia and Priceline, own most of them! Accordingly, public pricing is generally the same from website to website. Try it for yourself.

Search for the same hotel on Hotels.com and Expedia and Orbitz.com and you’ll find the pricing to be virtually the same.

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does it really matter which site you use? Your choice with any of these sites will run the gamut from A to B. It’s not worth an all-day search to find the best hotel deal.

So how do you decide who to book your hotel / resort through? You’re in luck! We have found one of the best booking portals, so you don’t have to.

Now that we know the major players in online travel booking own most of the other booking sites. This is not a complete list but here are some highlights of whom owns who: •

Expedia Inc. • Owns Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Hotwire. com, Venere.com, TripAdvisor.com — plus TripAdvisor • Subsidiaries • CruiseCritic.com, BookingBuddy.com, SmarterTravel. com, SeatGuru.com, AirfareWat chdog.com, and IndependentTraveler. com.

•

Orbitz Worldwide • Owns Orbitz.com, CheapTickets.com, and RatestoGo.com

•

Sabre Holdings Inc. • Owns Travelocity.com, IgoUgo.com, LastMinute.com and the gigantic Sabre reservations system used by the travel industry. Travelocity also powers the search on Yahoo! Travel.

•

Priceline.com Inc. • Owns Priceline.com, Travelweb.com, and Lowestfare.com.

In my experience, hotel prices vary more with the day, date or occupancy rate of a property rather than which booking site you use. So,

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The Pan African American Travel Club was developed to educate, assist and encourage cultural heritage travelers to explore the rich and vibrant cultures of Pan Africa! The Art, the Food, and the Music are unequal in their creativity and excellence! To encourage our Pan Africa travelers. So, Pan Africa created the Pan African American Travel Club. We searched for partners that will give our travelers the opportunity to travel to experience luxury travel at the lowest prices possible.

Pan African American Travel Club has partnered with LifeTRNDS to provide private pricing not available to the public on hotel and resorts around the world. You get to use a $40 million hotel and resort booking travel technology platform and use it like as if you owned it yourself.

As a LifeTRNDS subscriber, you will enjoy private pricing on hotel and resorts around the world.

International Stay - One Week

PLAZA DELLA REPUBLICA, 47 ROME, IT 00187 Public Price - $2,503.22

Our Price - $1,946.04 SAVE - $557.18

The Pan African American Travel Club, a LifeTRNDS advocate, has partnered with LifeTRNDS to provide wholesale pricing on hotels and resorts around the world. It will only cost you a small subscriber fee of 39.95. In addition, you can save on everyday purchases with our daily shopping discounts and cashback opportunities.

The subscription will also provide you an opportunity to join our network and support our work by becoming a LifeTRND Advocate. All the information you will need to decide is on a short video. Should you elect not to join, we have a Free Gift for you. A GIFT Card that offers you up to $1000 in Savings on your travel needs. No Strings attached! It is Free!

Not Traveling Yet? We also offer you savings on everyday purchases with our daily shopping discounts, attractions, events, dinning, cash back opportunities, and much more.

Visit Us Today lifetrnds.com/paatc

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‘The South’

African American Cultural Heritage Tourism and Travel Resource Links - Click Each Image To View

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Southern Cultural Heritage Trails Links Alabama

Georgia

Louisiana

Black Tourism

African American History

African American Heritage Trail

Mississippi Civil Rights Trail Itinerary

Georgia Civil Rights Trail

Arkansas

Kentucky Mississippi Freedom Trail

Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail

Kentucky Civil Rights Trail Civil Rights Markers in Mississippi

Arkansas Black History

Florida

Florida Black History

Kentucky Civil Rights Trail Civil Rights Archives

Kentucky Center For African American Heritage

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North Carolina

North Carolina Civil Rights Trail

African-American History In North Carolina

African-American History Across North Carolina

Texas

Explore Texas’ African American History

Texas Time Travel

African Americans

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South Carolina

South Carolina Civil Rights History

SC African-American History and Culture

Black History

Virginia

Virginia Civil Rights Trail

African American Historic Sites

Tennessee

Tennessee’s Stops on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

My Tennessee Trip Planner

Places in Tennessee to Explore African American History

The Pan African Cultural Heritage Media marketing and advertising program offers advertising options across many media channels including website, e-Newsletter, digital magazine, contests, social and more. We pride ourselves on being partners with our advertisers and consulting with them to meet their unique business needs throughout the entire process.

Increase your marketing impact by taking advantage of the low-cost/high value advertising opportunities to reach a prestigious audience on a global scale. Maximize your visibility by promoting your business or service in the Pan African American Cultural Heritage Market Place suite of advertisement platforms.

African Network TV The Pan African Cultural Heritage Institute YouTube Channel (‘The Tube’) is an educational and cultural heritage awareness promotional platform that was developed in partnership with the Pan African Cultural Heritage Institute and African Network TV of Gainesville, Florida.

Edutainment is the primary intent of the videos shared on ‘The Tube”.

The Pan African Culture and History is “Rich” and Robust! Neglected and abused by others for personal gain, confusion exists on what is true. Using the knowledge and research of educators, historians, researchers, artisans, and the expertise and relationship of ANTV, the Institute is excited about the opportunities that lies ahead. Become a supporter of the ‘Tube’ by joining the Pan African Cultural Heritage Society as a member. We are dedicated in our efforts to promote the Pan African American Cultural Heritage Initiative, by sharing the culture and history of Pan Africa. Share!

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Our story began with building and maintaining the definitive reference information resource aiding friends group travel. That data was put into use with the launch of TRIP in the Spring of 1993. The quarterly travel guide served as a Travel Reference Information Planner for group planners, mailing to 60,000+ known planners each quarter. The subject-specific Keeper Reference evolved into the TRIPinfo Quarterly Digital Magazine.

The print guide audience migrated to TRIPinfo.com when it launched as the 1st USA Travel Reference Information Portal in 1996. Today, 50,000+ group planners use TRIPinfo.com each month for logistics and details research for group bookings in the USA. They are group, tour, agent, team meeting, event, religious, reunion, sport, student, wedding & International planners – each booking 10x-375x/year the average family on travel.

By 2000 the company began its weekly email newsletter, Internet Travel Monitor, sent to ~15,000 group travel planners each week. The 3 components of the TRIPinfo Digital Platform are now TRIPinfo. com Online + TRIPinfo Weekly Newsletter + TRIPinfo Quarterly Digital Magazine. They work together as a comprehensive reference for group planners to use during all facets of their trips.

When we started as an online hobby in 1997, general travel media only listed a handful of black heritage sites in New York City, Washington and Atlanta.

Inspired by our lead, general travel media now include African-American sites in every hamlet, but not as well as us.

Though African-American travelers are our primary market, SoulOfAmerica attracts visitors of all stripes who broaden their travel perspectives by exploring editorial, listings, photos, video and shared stories on cultural treasures with all the appreciation and in some cases, reverence they deserve. In that sense, visiting SoulOfAmerica to virtually sample AfricanAmerican culture is similar to visiting Chinatown to sample Chinese-American culture.

We have upgraded our international content, social media and mobile guides to ensure that we appeal to a broader range of demographics. Whether a quick visit or hour long dive into SoulOfAmerica, we promise that there are many insights and pleasant surprises to make your next trip more engaging.

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No matter how much I’ve learned over the years, that knowledge is increased while working on our Vacation Planning issue and Family Reunion Planning insert, two arduous projects that require a great deal of time, coordination and energy—much like our personal travel plans.

Weller, my husband and the publisher of Pathfinders, generally makes all of our travel arrangements, and can spend hours searching various websites, calling hotels, attractions, and airlines before finally booking a trip. (I humbly admit the couple of times I made flight arrangements; I booked the tickets for the wrong date.)

Travel takes a coordination of efforts by those going on the trip, and/or the resources of a good travel agent. Now, I research as much as I can about the destination before departure. We travel often with our granddaughter who, like a typical 7-year-old, is full of questions about the journey, destination, people and even the food. It keeps us on our toes as we sometimes have to scramble to the internet or library to find the answer—which is okay, because it helps us to continue seeing the world with profound appreciation.

And isn’t that what travel is supposed to be about? As you read the March issue, the stories on dining in Virginia, cultures of Vancouver and Antigua, adventure in North Carolina, or the women artist of Haiti, it is my hope that you enjoy them with the wonderment and appreciate each writer felt while discovering them.

The family reunion information was culled from volunteers who tirelessly work to research the genealogy while taking on the awesome task of planning these family gatherings with a minimum of resources.

The Pathfinders Reunions Online is also a work in progress, and we invite you to visit (www.pathfinderstravel.com) to share your photos, suggestions and questions with this new community. And of course, we want to hear about your vacation plans. With the economy and fuel prices taking us on a reluctant ride of its own, tell us if your travel plans have changed because of the economy, and especially if you’ve canceled an international vacation, beach house rental or other plans.

Drop me a line at editors@pathfinderstravel.com, I’d love to hear from you.

It’s a Wonderful Word! Step on the Path and Let’s See It Together.

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Black Meetings & Tourism was established in 1994.

We are an award winning, international, full color, Bi-monthly trade publication for and about the $40 billion plus African-American group and leisure travel, incentives and meetings market.

In addition, we are a valuable resource for all your business and leisure travel needs and through our focal and supplemental publications, also provide vital information about professional accomplishments, achievements, career opportunities, and cultural events related to the Travel, Meetings and Hospitality, industries.

As an African-American owned publishing company, we are dedicated to serving and supporting the African-American travel segment as well as providing an opportunity to all businesses, service providers, and affiliates that want to reach this emerging market.

According to the Travel Industry of America (TIA), the African-American segment of the U.S. population represents one of the fastest growing markets in the travel industry

African Diaspora Tourism (ADT) is an online magazine dedicated to exploring the culture, heritage, places and influences of people of African descent, past and present around the globe. The ADT web site highlights information on how people of color, living all over the world as a result of the transatlantic slave trade and modern-day migration, are continuously shaping the cultures of North, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, as well as Africa.

ADTs major objective is to enlighten and inspire cultural and heritage tourism through up-to-date information, compelling first-person travel articles, candid images, and scholarly research. In addition to bringing you a first-rate travel journal about the people and places of the global African Diaspora, ADT is committed to supporting sustainable tourism and preserving the culture and heritage in the places we explore.

With studies showing that people more now than ever are looking to learn about and immerse themselves in the history and culture of the places they visit, we feel that this project is a timely, worthwhile endeavor that serves to meet the needs of travelers, culture enthusiasts, and professionals.

Become A Member

Pan African Cultural Heritage Society MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS AND LEVELS Business and Community Organization members will be listed in the Pan African American Cultural Heritage Marketplace online business membership directory for one year from date of membership approval and will be included in and have full access to the Pan African American Cultural Heritage Marketplace. Individual members will be listed in the online “Who’s Who” membership directory for one year from date of membership approval and will be able to access the Pan African American Cultural Heritage Marketplace.

Benefits: One year Free Subscription to each of the membership e-magazines.

Business/Professional Membership........................................................... $100.00 a year Community Organization Membership....................................................... $50.00 a year Individual Membership.................................................................................. $25.00 a year

Click Here For Membership Application 61

Become A Sponsor Gold Level Sponsorship

Silver Level Sponsorship

Bronze Level Sponsorship

Corporate Level Sponsorship

$5000 Per Year

$3000 Per Year

$2000 Per Year

$1000 Per Year

Full page ad for one year in all membership e-magazines. Option to submit Advertorial in place of Quarterly Advertisement.

Half page ad for one year in all membership e-magazines. Option to submit Advertorial in place of Quarterly Advertisement.

Quarter page ad for one year in all membership e-magazines. Option to submit Advertorial in place of Quarterly Advertisement.

Company logo featured on “Sponsors Page” on Pan African American Cultural Heritage Marketplace website for one year.

Company logo featured on “Sponsors Page” on Pan African American Cultural Heritage Marketplace website for one year.

Company logo featured on “Sponsors Page” on Pan African American Cultural Heritage Marketplace website for one year.

Corporate / Business Members’ names and/or logos will be placed on the Pan African American Cultural Heritage Marketplace Sponsorship Page for one year from date of membership approval.

The company will be invited to promote products/services at all appropriate events for a year for free with the first choice of vendor location.

The company will be invited to promote products/services at all appropriate events for one year at a discounted rate.

The company will have priority choice for vendor location.

The company will be invited to promote products/services at all appropriate events for one year at a discounted rate.

Certificate of appreciation.

One year Free Subscription to each of the membership e-magazines.

Certificate of appreciation.

Certificate of appreciation.

Certificate of appreciation.

Click Here For Sponsorship Application 62

The Institute’s E – Magazines

Advertise In Our Quarterly Membership E-Magazines

The Pan African Cultural Heritage Alliance offers advertising options across many media channels including website, e-Newsletter, digital magazine, contests, social and more. We pride ourselves on being partners with our advertisers and consulting with them to meet their unique business needs throughout the entire process.

Why Advertise?

• • • • •

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Inform the industry of your company, products & services Increase brand awareness Position your company, products & services in front of the Pan African Cultural Heritage Network Increase awareness of the uniqueness of your services Connect with over the Pan African Culture, globally

Increase your marketing impact by taking advantage of the low-cost/ high-value advertising opportunities to reach a prestigious audience on a global scale. Maximize your visibility by promoting your business or service in the Pan African American Cultural Heritage Market Place suite of advertisement platforms.

E – Magazine Why Advertise?

• •

• •

Associate your brand with the Pan African Culture Chambers of Commerce and Cultural Heritage movement.

Position your company as a supporter of the Cultural Economics, Forgotten Communities, and Cultural Heritage Arts Programs.

Digital publications will have a shelf readership life of over one year.

Your advertisement will be positioned in an e-magazine that is filled with pertinent and informative articles, interviews, comments and more!

Advertising Rates • Full page.................................................................. $1000.00 • Half page.................................................................. $500.00 • Quarter page............................................................ $250.00

Ad Submission Specifications Please help ensure that we have all items needed to reproduce your ad with the highest possible quality, recommend at least 12 megapixels.

How To Send Files

Email completed advertising files to dbeckford.paachmp@gmail.com

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Join a Society

Pan African Cultural Heritage Societies

About Pan African Cultural Heritage Societies The Pan African Cultural Heritage Society is a network of International, State, Regional, and Local Cooperatives whose mission is to increase mutual understanding between the people of African Descent in the United States; and the people of other countries, states, cities, cultures, ethnic groups, and most important, the residents of the host community; by means of educational and cultural exchange, that assist in community and economic development.

What We Do Under the Management of the National Asset Building Coalition, Inc.; the Pan African Cultural Heritage Society Network supports and works to build cooperative relations and exchanges in Pan African Communities in the area of Commerce, Culture, Heritage, Education; recruiting People of Influence, Knowledge and Faith to join us in our cooperative efforts. Educational and Cultural Activities are used to build relations between the members of the Societies and the people of other countries through culture and heritage edutainment programs, art events, business and community development projects, academic and faith lectures, cultural sports, and professional exchanges, as well as public -private partnerships.

Who We Engage In an effort to celebrate the diversity of the People of African Descent, the Societies are open to all members of the host community and makes every effort to reflect the global society. Although our activities celebrate and focuses on the culture, heritage, traditions, and arts of Pan Africans for celebratory, educational and awareness purposes, all cultures are welcomed to become members and participate in Society activities.

How We Work We solicit artists, educators, athletes, students, business and faith community leaders to become local, state, and national Pan African Society Affiliates to share their cultural and heritage knowledge and skills with the host community and with other Pan African Cultural Heritage Societies around the globe, to include the general population, and seek cultural exchanges to help break down barriers that often divide Pan Africa and other cultures and nationalities.

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We Are Co-op The Pan African Cultural Heritage Society is a community centered alliance of International, Regional, State, and City Cooperatives.

A cooperative or co-operative is an autonomous association of people who voluntarily cooperate for their mutual social, economic, and cultural benefit. Cooperatives include non-profit community organizations and businesses that are owned and managed by the people who use its services or by the people who work there or by the people who live there, hybrids such as worker cooperatives that are also consumer cooperatives or credit unions, multi-stakeholder cooperatives such as those that bring together civil society and local actors to deliver community needs, and second and third tier cooperatives whose members are other cooperatives. The International Co-operative Alliance was the first international association formed by the movement. It includes the World Council of Credit Unions. A second organization was formed later in Germany, the International Raiffeisen Union. In the United States, the National Cooperative Business Association serves as the sector’s oldest national membership association.

The people and societies of the Pan African Cultural Heritage Society are constantly forming together in two major ways: through cultural engagement and by cultivating healthy Pan African Cultural Heritage Communities. We are active around across the United States and across the globe through various cooperative efforts, including a major community arts and educational collaborative mission.

We also assist communities with asset development research and cultural arts and community development projects; and connect these communities to global efforts, associated with the Pan African Cultural Heritage Institute, Inc. and the National Asset Building Coalition, Inc. network missions and efforts.

We cultivate healthy cooperative societies by connecting them to successful model societies and assist them in acquiring resources in support of each society individually and as a whole.

Conferences and workshop are held to assist in the development of cooperative/society members to encourage fellowship, interaction and foster society and membership growth.

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State Affiliates Cultural Heritage Societies Alabama Cultural Heritage Society

Mississippi Cultural Heritage Society

Arkansas Cultural Heritage Society

Missouri Cultural Heritage Society

California Cultural Heritage Society

Nebraska Cultural Heritage Society

D.C. Cultural Heritage Society

New Jersey Cultural Heritage Society

Florida Cultural Heritage Society

New York Cultural Heritage Society

Georigia Cultural Heritage Society

North Carolina Cultural Heritage Society

Indiana Cultural Heritage Society

Ohio Cultural Heritage Society

Illinois Cultural Heritage Society

Oklahoma Cultural Heritage Society

Kansas Cultural Heritage Society

PennsylvaniaCultural Heritage Society

Kentucky Cultural Heritage Society

South Carolina Cultural Heritage Society

Louisiana Cultural Heritage Society

Tennessee Cultural Heritage Society

Maryland Cultural Heritage Society

Texas Cultural Heritage Society

Massachusetts Cultural Heritage Society

Virginia Cultural Heritage Society

Michigan Cultural Heritage Society

Wisconsin Cultural Heritage Society

Minnesota Cultural Heritage Society

The “West” Cultural Heritage Society

International Affiliates Cultural Heritage Societies Africa Cultural Heritage Society

Haiti Cultural Heritage Society

Bahamas Cultural Heritage Society

Jamaica Cultural Heritage Society

Belize Cultural Heritage Society

Kingdom of Spain Cultural Heritage Society

Canadian Cultural Heritage Society Caribbean Cultural Heritage Society Cuba Cultural Heritage Society European Cultural Heritage Society

Saint Lucia Cultural Heritage Society United Kingdom Cultural Heritage Society South / Central American Cultural Heritage Society

France Cultural Heritage Society

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Cities and Regional Cultural Heritage Societies Atlanta Cultural Heritage Society, Atlanta, Georgia

Montgomery Cultural Heritage Society, Montgomery, Alabama

Biloxi - Gulfport Cultural Heritage Society, Biloxi, Mississippi

New Orleans Cultural Heritage Society, New Orleans, Louisiana

Birmingham Cultural Heritage Society, Birmingham, Alabama

Northwest Florida Cultural Heritage Society, Napes - Sarasota - Ft. Myers, Florida

Daytona Beach Cultural Heritage Society, Daytona Beach, Florida

Savannah Cultural Heritage Society, Savannah, Georgia

Fort Lauderdale Cultural Heritage Society, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Southwest Florida Cultural Heritage Society, Napes - Sarasota - Ft. Myers, Florida

Florida Keys Cultural Heritage Society, Key West, Florida

Orlando Cultural Heritage Society, Orlando, Florida

Gainesville - Ocala Cultural Heritage Society, Gainesville, Florida

Pensacola Cultural Heritage Society, Pensacola, Florida

Jacksonville(La Villa Cultural Heritage Society), Jacksonville, Florida

Tallahassee Cultural Heritage Society, Tallahassee, Florida

Memphis Cultural Heritage Society, Memphis, Tennessee

Tampa - St. Petersburg Cultural Heritage Society, Tampa, Florida

Miami Cultural Heritage Society, Miami, Florida

West Palm Beach Cultural Heritage Society, West Palm Beach, Florida

Mobile Cultural Heritage Society, Mobile, Alabama

U.S. Territory Cultural Heritage Societies Puerto Rico Cultural Heritage Society

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Virgin Island Cultural Heritage Society

Publisher - Eugene Franklin Editor - Debbie Beckford Graphic Designer - Ryan Doughty Art Credit - Sonja Griffin Evans, Eric O’ Neal, Jean Pugh, Robert Rivera, Jorge Zapata, Konstantine Aal, Janine Robinson, David Mark, Clark Tibbs, SeppH, Christ Pruitt and David Brossard.

Photos - Staff, Public Domain, Flaticon and Pixabay.

Sources - Staff Writers, Wikipedia and Wikitravel.

Distributed By: Pan African Cultural Heritage Institute. Inc. National Cultural Heritage Tourism Center Inc. Florida Black Chamber of Commerce, Inc. Mailing Address: 421 North Rues Street Pensacola, FL 32501 or Post Office Box 17743 Pensacola, Florida 32522-7743 To unsubscribe email gene_franklin@yahoo.com 70