Trafalgar will launch a new trip, Journey Along the Civil Rights Trail, in 2021/22.
The offering seeks to bring to life the struggles and triumphs, music and milestones, legends and heroes of the US Civil Rights Movement.
The itinerary highlights the events and acknowledges the people involved in the ongoing fight for equality and freedom whilst enjoying the magic, music and hospitality that is synonymous with the Southern states of the US.
The trip focuses on the pioneers of the period, particularly Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, starting in Memphis where he was assassinated, and ending in Atlanta, city of his birth.
Along the way, guests will connect with local communities and meet a number of prominent activists and speakers who share their personal stories of growing up as African Americans in the segregated South.
Across nine days, guests will visit key historical locations along the Mississippi Freedom Trail including Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery, and the site just outside Greenwood, where the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till at Bryant’s Grocery & Meat Market in 1955 is widely recognised as being a catalyst for the movement.
Other key sites that pay tribute to the trailblazers include the Rosa Parks Museum, the Historic Mason Temple (where Dr. King delivered his famous last speech: “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”), the National Civil Rights Museum, the Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery.
Guests will take a moving walk across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, the sight of the tragic “Bloody Sunday” beatings of March 7th, 1965.
They will also enjoy a spinetingling performance by Alabama’s Carlton Reese Choir, with an insight into how the choir supported the work of Dr. King on his visits to the state, before dinner and a live jazz performance featuring the music of greats like Sun Ra and Erskine Hawkins.
Of course, no journey to the south is complete without soul, blues and delicious Southern home-cooked dishes.
Trafalgar guests will enjoy a signature Be My Guest brunch of Southern favourites in the lovingly restored antebellum home of Sandy Taylor and her husband Harvey, and an exclusive, after-hours experience at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music to name just a few experiences that await.
Gavin Tollman, global chief executive of Trafalgar, said: “2020 made vividly clear just how harmful, hurtful, and deeply divisive racial inequality is and continues to be.
“Our eyes were again opened to the important work that still needs to be done and the stories that need to be told.”
Image: Travel South USA