Our first stop was at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, where we learned about the indigenous people who lived there. It was a lot of stairs to get to the top of the Mounds, but it was beautiful. We took our shoes off, and poured out water for the Indigenous people who lived on the land, who built their communities on it and fought to protect it, and learned about their history.  

On Day Two, we stopped at Centenary Methodist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. met with striking Memphis sanitation workers before his death, and then went on to the motel where he was assassinated, which is now a part of the National Civil Rights Museum.  

Visiting that place took a lot out of me. Seeing all of the museum displays, including pictures and exhibits of the million man march, the lunch counter sit-ins, the first bus from the original justice journeys that was set on fire, the murder of innocent children in church; it made me angry. It made me realize that this is my history, and I should have been taught it.

Walking up the stairs to where Martin Luther King Jr. was killed was touching. The fact that they turned the place where he was murdered into a museum dedicated to the civil rights movement was very, very touching.  

Another stop that deeply affected me was at the Emmett Till monument in Mississippi. I cried when they taught us what happened to Emmett Till. Grown men snatched a boy from his house, beat him, shot him, and threw him in a river—all because a white woman said he whistled at her, and even that turned out to be a lie. I don’t know how anyone could live with themselves. And to find out that people actually came out to shoot his memorial sign—I don’t understand it.

Finally, we arrived in Louisiana, where we were going to march on one of the largest immigrant detention centers in the country. I can’t lie—I was scared. We were given very clear instructions not to interact with the ICE agents, to get a lawyer if we were questioned, but I was still shaken at the possibility that something could happen. Luckily, the rally went well and it was a good experience, and we got up the next day ready for an even larger rally in New Orleans. 

Our final rally was fun, filled with music, and included SEIU members from all over the country. I met people from New York, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Kansas, and Missouri. We had people from New Orleans cheering us on, with the Louisiana members providing the music, and even though the heat was intense, I had a great time.

I am glad that I got the opportunity to go on this journey and learn more about the civil rights leaders who came before us. It’s important to learn about your history, so that we can fight for everyone who needs justice now. I was glad to rally at the ICE facility to show the people inside that they are not alone, that people want freedom for them. These are families, trying to make the best life for their kids. Just because we were born here and they weren’t doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve the chance for a better life. We need to use our voice as a union to speak up, because our voice is loud and has an impact.

In Solidarity,

Delinda Phillips

Nursing Home CNA