{"id":872197,"date":"2023-02-22T14:11:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T13:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/?p=872197"},"modified":"2025-03-03T15:53:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T14:53:00","slug":"americas-black-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/americas-black-history\/","title":{"rendered":"March in their footsteps: The powerful Trafalgar tour that traces America’s Black History\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Leon Burnette is a civil rights activist and co-founder of the Pathways Project<\/a>, which aims to create opportunities within the travel industry for more diverse voices. He\u2019s also one of the Trafalgar Travel Directors you\u2019ll meet on our Journey Along the Civil Rights Trail<\/a> tour in the United States<\/a> that traces America\u2019s Black history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leon says that the best way to understand America\u2019s Black history \u2013 as well as that of other BIPOC communities \u2013 is through authentic tours led by members of those communities. At present, those voices and stories are underrepresented with the travel industry. To truly understand the experiences that minorities have gone through down the centuries, we need to be able to walk, quite literally, in their footsteps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s exactly what guests can do when they join our Journey Along the Civil Rights Trail tour with Leon. This 9-day tour of the American South from Memphis to Atlanta is all about getting immersed in music, art and food, visiting important Black history destinations, and hearing, first-hand, stories from the Civil Rights Movement. You\u2019ll meet local activists, pay your respects at memorials and museums and celebrate the culture and cuisine of the American South. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In honour of Black History Month, we sat down with Leon to talk about his experiences running our Journey Along the Civil Rights Trail<\/a> tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was it like to run the first ‘Journey along the Civil Rights Trail’ tour last fall? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven though this was Trafalgar’s first Civil Rights tour, I have led this tour of America’s true Black history hundreds of times in my long career. I lead tours all over the world but this is by far my favorite tour to teach. It is also what I believe my true calling is; To safely lead individuals along the US Civil Rights Trail and introduce them to the true history of the Black experience in America.

\u201cIt\u2019s also about introducing them to the lesser-known heroes of the Civil Rights Movement, including the Footsoldiers, the Black women and the children who risked their lives so everyone in this country could be free and have equality and the right to vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere else can you introduce a guest to true living history makers who are still alive to tell their story? These are ordinary people who decided they were going to do something to make the world a better place. I want my guest to learn from their stories and feel empowered to take action in their communities back home to correct wrongs and make them right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED BLOG: 6 African American sights on our Civil Rights Trail tour<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CofdJJPAAbV\/?hl=en\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What were the reactions of the guests on the tour?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The reactions from the 26 guests on this tour were overwhelmingly positive, with those we spoke to saying that the tour was \u201clife-changing\u201d, \u201cpowerful\u201d, \u201cdeeply moving\u201d, and that it \u201cshook me to my core\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What were some of the guest\u2019s highlights on the tour?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n