Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” As a participant in the TBE Civil Rights Journey this November, we saw first-hand how long it takes for justice to be achieved.

The trip began by visiting The Lynching Memorial Park. We walked below rusting iron rectangles engraved with the names of black people lynched, a form of terrorism. There were almost 5,000 memorialized.

From there, we went to the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum, where we followed the path of repression from the slave trade to Jim Crow, the KKK, to voter suppression and mass incarcerations that continue today.

On day two, we went to Selma, Alabama, where we met a woman who, at 11 years of age, was part of the march from Selma to Montgomery and across the Edmond Pettus Bridge. Attacked by dogs, water cannons, and police, she was turned back, but on the third day, she succeeded. We heard first-hand how small acts of courage and a mission to achieve justice can prevail.

Finally, on Sunday morning, we attended services at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church of Reverend/Senator Warnock. Surrounded by over a thousand people, we sang, prayed, and listened to a very uplifting sermon.

As a Jewish American, I was familiar with most of the history of civil rights. I was unfamiliar with the depth and breadth of the inhumanity. The trip reinforced how small steps of work and courage to correct injustice can, over time, “bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice.”