Back to the past: Civil rights pilgrimage

BC students Shreya Ramen and Chloe Copoloff with a community member from pilgrimage marching in Selma.
BC students Shreya Ramen and Chloe Copoloff with a community member from pilgrimage marching in Selma.

From Feb. 26 to March 6, five Bellevue College students accompanied by the Program Chair for political science Dr. Tim Jones, attended a civil rights pilgrimage with a few students from Utah State University and University of Washington Seattle.

The students were guided around four states: Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi. They experienced the impact of the civil rights movement by talking to members who were part of the civil rights movement such as Bob Zellner who was among the first white southerners to participate in the movement. BC student Chloe Copoloff also had the opportunity to present her original song for the pilgrimage at the First Baptist Church, where Freedom Riders hid from Ku Klux Klan terrorists.

The next pilgrimage will be in October and those who are interested in attending should email tim.jones@bellevuecolllege.edu.