Reflections on the Railroad
Journal entries from trip participants, posted from the road...

"Today was such a joyous day to have in my memory bank. Wilberforce University, the first predominantly Black university founded for slaves and freed Blacks -- to go from the fields of bondage to a seat of higher learning, in this beautiful place. And this is prior to the Civil War, Lincoln, and Emancipation."

"Sharing this new information and footnote the mistake or miseducation that is not being shared, involve [my students] with this new information and giving them research assignments to be involving them in learning more and more, beyond the limited text books. Let's found out the Real Story of our past, which affects our present, and change our future. Knowing and Thinking . . . This certainly is an emotional learning experience (about Slavery) and should be for everyone."

"The segment on Urban Slavery and decoding culture was very beneficial. It was educational and enlightening to learn how culture was so misconstrued and people so misinformed about the true plight of domestic servants."

"I think the play acting was very powerful. Watching the others caused me to rethink my position on certain issues."

"I learned that more people were involved in the UGRR than I possibly could have imagined. I know that there will be so much information that I could not possibly begin to process it all in this short time. . . . I could relate to the lack of sensitivity to some of the activities in the slave auction. It reminds us all of how much farther in our relationships with others we have to go."

"I was fascinated by the urban slavery and the festivals that perpetrated the continuation of slavery and the imbalance of the sexes, causing or contributing to the inability to have families."

"It wasn't always that the plantation slave had a more harsh life than the urban slave. Many compelling arguments were made as to the more difficult life of the urban slave."

"Freedom is the result of daily choices by ordinary people."

"I read Up From Slavery, had our 5 children read it, and read sections of it to my students. Especially I admire the way he won admittance to college -- by cleaning the office so thoroughly that Mrs. Rufner had to see his spirit and find a way for him to attend. I am awed at the chance to meet the granddaughter of Booker T. Washington!"

The "Footsteps to Freedom 1999" Route

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