Johnnie Carr Joins the Angels & We Mourn

Photo by Rob Carr, AP

My heart felt heavy when I read the news that 97-year-old Johnnie Carr died on February 22, 2008. Southern Poverty Law Center co-founder Morris Dees called Carr a Civil Rights Icon: Carr joined her childhood friend Rosa Parks during the Montgomery bus boycott. Her son Arlam Carr, Jr. was a classmate at Montgomery's Sidney Lanier High School, although it took the court case his mother initiated to end desegregation at the city's formerly all-white schools. My condolences go out toArlam and his family as I reflect on life in the South during those turbulent years.

The Countdown Begins...7 Days...

...until I'm in Atlanta for the beginning of an incredible journey!

Civil Rights South: a 7-day trip led by Julian Bond. The Gypsy Queen Cab will be on the road with camera, video, and laptop to chronicle the journey through the eyes of those who led the Civil Rights Movement.

As Ken Burns explored "emotional archaeology" in his production of The War, I join other travelers who refuse to live with "historical amnesia" about events that were "too awful to countenance."