Life of Thadii.

MLK Memorial Visit
Sunday, February 15, 2009

I'm going to describe the visit with an oxymoron: boring fun.

Ok, the boring bit starts here...

Admittedly, I'm not a big fan of history but being in Atlanta, birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr, I felt compelled to go on an MLK Memorial tour organized by the OIE (Office of International Exchange). The tour itself was horribly boring, with the guide Rebecca droning on and on about black slavery, who the first black millionaire was, how resourceful and business-minded the blacks were in the late 19th century yada yada yada...

Don't get me wrong. I do care, but I also do know about the history and have heard enough about discrimination in America. I mean, just about 50 years ago, blacks weren't allowed to sit with whites on the public buses, or enter the main doors of office buildings. That's how bad it was. But yea, what's new anyway? I wonder how MLK feels knowing there's a black President...hmmm...so anyway, instead of fully listening, I took lots and lots of pictures =) I'll let the pictures do the touring/talking instead =)

Self-explanatory nugget for you journ freaks/interested people...

I swear I almost thought it was "Sailor Moon", lol. On and did you know, the first recorded black millionaire in America was a barber! How the hell do you cut hair to a million dollars...especially 100 years back?!

For all disbelievers out there...here's ANOTHER (oh-so-familiar) warning for ya'all!

I love this Church...I think it's pretty beautiful...not the European cathedral of course...it's only historical significance is that it's the biggest church for blacks in Atlanta I think...Big Bethel Africian Methodist Episcopal Church...what a name!

Nice graffiti-art on the walls of the black district...told ya' I wasn't focusing on the tour :p

First black stonemason's guild! In case you didn't know...stonemasons are extremely skilled craftsmen who have their roots back to building the Egyptian pyramids...the guild and their trade is shrouded with secrecy...no wonder the existence of this guild is history...considering the whole black slavery and emancipation context...

Freaking random...but I thought this picture was an interesting juxtaposition of words, wordplays and signs...

Another freakin' random shot...of a "I don't know who the f**k is this"...just a totally weird, big, face...of some famous black guy I think who emphasized on the importance of learning a trade to gain freedom in society as a black or something...Dodds was his name?

WTH. America is not secular. I mean come on...we all know that Obama's victory was race politics...and now this...(okok, you guys already know I'm not a fan of the Democrats and Obama :p)

Awww damn...I realized I didn't snap any photo of the Ebenezer Baptist Church that MLK used to preach at!!! Argghhh...

And here...

Need I say more? Haha...and here's an emo shot at a historic site...I HAD to do it :p

The remains of the great MLK and his lovely wife...it's actually situated between the church and the Memorial center...and in the middle of a "river"...if I'm not wrong it's called the "river of reflection" or something? Really beautiful...and do read the inscriptions...

I freakin' love these inspirational quotes...especially the first one...

Oh, and it is regrettable that my camera batt died midway into the trip. So the pictures of the fun part of today's trip aren't on my camera! Sadly...but I promise I'll grab the photos from Mingfeng ASAP and upload them here for your viewing pleasure! Oh the irony of it all...the FUN part and I have little-to-no photos argghhh...

So what kinda fun photos, and where did I go that made it fun? After the MLK tour, the tour group had lunch at a municipal market, and boarded the coach back to Tech. However, 7 of us decided to abandon the itinerary and walk to the nearby Oakland Cemetery instead!

It's a historic cemetery with lots of famous people (besides MLK) buried there, and houses many of the Confederate war dead (Georgia was a Confederate state during the Civil War). Some famous people include Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind, one of the greatest golfers of all times, Bobby Jones (his grave had lots of golf balls all over, and even a golf hole!), and Pemberton, the creator of Coca-Cola.

And yea, it was really beautiful. There were some really pretty tombstones, statues, obelisks and mausoleums. It's interesting to note how a cemetery can become a tourist attraction. Yes, there was a freakin' visitor house in the cemetery, fully-furnished with souvenirs and paraphernalia.

I guess in Singapore, or "Asian" societies...cemeteries are seen as "dirty", taboo places. Going into cemeteries unnecessarily is a big no-no, much less taking pictures with artefacts. Here in America, the cemetery I went to was so peaceful and tranquil (like it should be, duh). The air's fresh, weather's cool, and atmosphere's calming...it was so surreal...almost romantic I swear!

However, there WAS something I managed to snap in the cemetery. For some reason my camera batt squeezed out some juice for a short moment. That was when the 7 of us were walking through the cemetery halfway, thirsty, and suddenly out of nowhere...

A water fountain stood by a tombstone! At first we thought it was a tombstone, then I realized it wasn't a solid stone structure, but a real metal contraption with a pedal. Whoa...zomg!

And yea, we drank from it! The water was refreshing (definitely not filtered through the corpses haha) and nope...it has been almost 12hours since I drank from it...and no side effects whatsoever. I'm not turning into a zombie, or anything of that sort =)

Oh and I have to mention, along the way to the cemetery, we did lots of crazy stuff. Basically since we were in the "black" district of the city, there were lots of graffiti and derelict structures everywhere. I guess discrimination still exists, whether we like it or not. But anyway, we took lots of crazy pictures in poses meant to parody high fashion...too bad most aren't on my camera...but I swear they ended up looking really awesome and cool. Do stay tuned on my blog or facebook for them...when I grab it from the others!

And as always...I never leave my blog readers disappointed...here's an X-rated shot to fulfill your (whatever) desires =)

I LOVE ALAN!!!!

Nah... XD

This is the REAL shot before I "did the dirty" hahaha...love emo shots really...alright folks, take it easy till tomorrow...gotta sleep now. It's 3.30am, and I have a long and early (10am...zzz) day ahead with lotsa activities again!

One of the Thadii blogged at 3:15 PM.
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