Ngeri Nnachi's Final Reflections on our 2023 Civil Rights Bus Tour

As I reflect on the past five days, I can only say that I have an immense feeling of gratitude that I will be sitting with for quite a while. I will be honest in saying that I am not one to feel a sense of hope in thinking about what the future can hold as a result of this trip but I can say that I am excited to hold those that took this trip with me accountable. In our final circle as a group, I said to the white people in our circle that I witnessed many of them become uncomfortable as they learned history from a new vantage point and that I hope they continue to engage in the process of unlearning. I also said that I hope they remain uncomfortable because many others are not comfortable. I truly mean that. I hope that the people that went on this trip that do not look like me always hold this experience with them and use it to empower them to be on the right side of history moving forward, leaving a better legacy for those to come than was left for them. I hope they take meaningful action against injustices for people that look like me not just for the big things but the little ones too, the small indignities, the MACROaggressions (I don’t call them micro because I feel that minimizes their impact…there is absolutely nothing micro about them). In those moments where the default response is “Why are THEY so angry? Why are THEY protesting in the streets? Why are THEY responding with frustration/(fill in the blank)?” that they answer their own question and tap into the feelings they felt during this trip. I cannot tell you how many white people that I have encountered who are completely aloof when it comes to what my people have gone through and who become unintentionally insensitive redirecting my realities and feelings to fit the comforts of the historical lies they have been conditioned to believing as truth. This becomes a tactic used to cover up white fragility, white guilt and white shame, which are all warranted because as we saw on this trip, the perpetrators did not look like me. The lynch mob members did not look like me. I implore every single white person to choose the path that takes them THROUGH those feelings and not the “easy” way out to cater to their own level of comfort completely disregarding those who continue to suffer (directly or indirectly) at their hands. I implore them to choose truth. I implore them to take this opportunity to do what their ancestors did not do and leave the history books better than they found them. So if nothing else, please remember to continue to be uncomfortable for those who do not have the privilege of discomfort being temporary, momentary or the result of a civil rights trip that showcased realities that the harmed are still existing within.