UE Journey to Justice

06/19/2026

Freedom is both a historical event and an ongoing project.

Freedom is more than a legal status. It also requires education, civic participation, strong communities, and the courage to imagine a different future.

Today we celebrate the end of slavery, honor the resilience of Black communities, and recommit ourselves to the work of learning, remembering, and building a more just world.

Happy Juneteenth.

06/18/2026

A court ruling issued today allows the Trump administration to move forward with plans to replace an exhibit about the enslaved people who lived and worked in George Washington's presidential residence in Philadelphia.

I've been following this story because it connects directly to what we explore on Journey to Justice.

At the First White House of the Confederacy in Montgomery, we ask students to pay attention not only to what is present, but also to what is absent. There is no discussion of the enslaved people whose labor sustained the household and no engagement with slavery itself, despite the fact that slavery was the central reason the Confederacy existed.

That absence shapes how visitors understand the past.

What makes the situation in Philadelphia especially troubling is that it involves the founding of the United States itself. Removing the stories of the enslaved people who lived and worked in George Washington's household makes the history less accurate and less complete.

Public history should help us grapple with the past in all its complexity, not hide parts of it because they are uncomfortable.
One of the most important lessons of J2J is that historical erasure often happens through omission. Museums, historic sites, and curriculum teach not only through what they include, but through what they leave out. Learning to recognize those absences is one of the first steps toward understanding how public memory works.

06/17/2026

Just days ago, our Journey to Justice students stood outside the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home in Jackson, Mississippi, discussing how history helps us understand the present.

Throughout the week, we explored the civil rights movement, voting rights, policing, poverty, citizenship, democracy, and the ways institutions shape people's lives. We talked about how the stories we were learning connected to the world around them today.

This week, a one-year-old child was killed during a police response to an alleged shoplifting incident in Mississippi. As details continue to emerge and investigations proceed, we are reminded that the issues we discussed are not simply historical.

Some of the questions this story raises include:

• What kinds of situations become police matters rather than social or economic matters?

• Why does an alleged shoplifting incident escalate to deadly force?

• How do race and poverty shape public perceptions of victims and suspects?

• What does "public safety" mean, and who benefits from current systems?

• How do communities seek accountability when harm is caused by the state?

One of the goals of Journey to Justice is not to tell students what to think but to help them ask deeper questions about the world around them.

06/14/2026

For the past week, you've traveled alongside us as students explored some of the most important sites in the history of the Civil Rights Movement.

You've watched them listen, question, reflect, and grow. You've seen them meet people who lived this history, stand in places where history was made, and begin connecting those stories to the challenges of the present.

That is the heart of Journey to Justice.

Every student on this trip is here because individuals, organizations, and community members chose to invest in them. This experience is about more than visiting historic sites. It is about helping young people engage difficult histories, think critically about the world around them, and discover their own capacity to make a difference.

If you've followed our journey this week and would like to help make future journeys possible, we invite you to support Journey to Justice.

Thank you for traveling with us.

If you'd like to support future Journey to Justice students, you'll find a donation link in the comments.

06/14/2026

Journey to Justice is about more than learning individual events. It is about understanding how different histories connect.

Tonight at A Taste of History, I picked up Kelley Coures' Indignation: A History of Politics and Race in Evansville, Indiana, 1870–1950. Kelley has also helped preserve and share Evansville's LGBTQ+ history.

His work is a reminder that the stories we tell about race, politics, community, and identity are not separate narratives. They overlap, influence one another, and help us better understand the world we live in today

06/13/2026

Journey to Justice 2026 has come to an end, but this was never just about a trip. It was about learning to see history more clearly, asking hard questions, building community, and imagining how each of us can help shape a more just future.
Thank you to everyone who traveled with us and everyone who helped make this experience possible.
Until next time!

06/13/2026

06/12/2026

After a week spent grappling with difficult histories, the National Civil Rights Museum’s temporary exhibit, Black Joy, In Spite Of..., felt almost like a celebration.

Throughout the week, we encountered stories of segregation, violence, resistance, and the long struggle for justice. This exhibit reminded us that those stories are not the whole story. Alongside them are stories of family, creativity, community, resilience, and joy.

What I may remember most, though, is watching our students engage with the exhibit. They created art, reflected on what joy means, posed for photos, and simply enjoyed being together. It was a space that invited them not only to learn, but to participate.

It was a fitting way to end the week: a reminder that the purpose of justice is not simply to survive, but to create the conditions where people can flourish.

06/12/2026

After a week spent grappling with difficult histories, the National Civil Rights Museum's temporary exhibit, Black Joy, In Spite Of..., felt almost like a celebration.

Throughout the week, we encountered stories of segregation, violence, resistance, and the long struggle for justice. This exhibit reminded us that those stories are not the whole story. Alongside them are stories of family, creativity, community, resilience, and joy.

What I may remember most, though, is watching our students engage with the exhibit. They created art, reflected on what joy means, posed for photos, and simply enjoyed being together. It was a space that invited them not only to learn, but to participate.

It was a fitting way to end the week: a reminder that the purpose of justice is not simply to survive, but to create the conditions where people can flourish.

06/12/2026

Our final official stop on Journey to Justice was the National Civil Rights Museum, built around the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 and the movement lost one of its most visible leaders.

The museum also tells the story of how thousands of ordinarypeople carried the struggle for justice forward before and after his death.

A powerful place to conclude a week spent learning how change happens.