Agenda Preview

The Alabama Experience—September 24th, 25th, and 26th—will offer state grantee organizations the chance to take a shared journey that builds the team’s racial equity muscle and catalyzes new ways of working back home. The event will take place in Montgomery, Alabama, and will incorporate many of the city’s powerful museums and spaces that explore our nation’s history of racial injustice and movement toward civil rights.

This agenda preview provides an overview of the event. The detailed agenda will be available in the Alabama Experience conference app.

MANDATORY PRE-CONFERENCE PREP SESSION

Attendees will attend a required virtual advance Prep Session for the Alabama Experience. You have three options to choose from and will pick one during the registration process.

July 12: 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET, or
August 13: 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET, or
August 27: 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. ET

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
Self-Selected Site Visits Day of Exploration

The Alabama Experience begins at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

Start with an opening session including breakfast, where we’ll introduce the week’s facilitators and outline key activities, followed by a choice of concurrent site visits:

- The Dr. Richard Harris House
- The Civil Rights Memorial and Interpretive Center at the Southern Poverty Law Center
- The Freedom Rides Museum
- The Rosa Parks Museum
- Montgomery History and Civil Rights Bus Tour
- Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. Institute at the Federal Courthouse

The day concludes with a dinner event featuring Michelle Browder, an influential artist and activist, who will discuss her work with the Mothers of Gynecology project, which brings attention to the enslaved women who were experimented upon—with no opportunity to refuse—in order to advance modern surgical practices in gynecology. The project is a step toward teaching and reimagining the true story of the nation and facing the injustice of the past and honoring the courage of overlooked heroes.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) Immersive Learning Experience

We are dedicating a full day to engaging with the Equal Justice Initiative’s critical efforts to address historical and ongoing racial injustices. Explore the Museum, Memorial, and Monument to uncover the deep links between America’s racial history and contemporary inequalities. This exploration aims to provide a profound understanding of systemic issues, inspiring us to reflect on and strategize about actionable changes.

The day concludes with a facilitated dinner, where we will have the opportunity to process and discuss the implications of what we’ve experienced in a supportive group setting.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
Reflection and Planning

We’ll start the day with a communal breakfast and guided reflections. The remainder of the day will be comprised of a variety of interactive sessions designed to deepen understanding and foster actionable insights. These discussions are crafted to help us apply learned principles of racial equity to initiate transformative changes within ourselves and our organizations.

The Alabama Experience will end at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
Travel Day or Optional Activities

For those staying an extra night, we encourage you to explore Selma (an hour away) and other historical sites before traveling home.