Seeing proved to be believing for Zed Key.
It’s not that the Ohio State third-year men’s basketball player wasn’t aware of the civil rights movement or the ongoing struggle for racial inequality, but physically being in Alabama and walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge along with more than 100 of his collegiate brethren?
“My hair was standing on my arms,” Key said. “I was like, they were really here doing this. Everyone was quiet. There was no noise. It was such a surreal moment.”
The experience proved to be a profound one for Key. A brainchild of the Big Ten Equality Coalition, the trip involved a group of student-athletes, administrators coaches and other staff members converging on Montgomery and Selma, Alabama, from July 15-17 for the “Big Life Series: Selma to Montgomery” experience.
Key said he was approached by Ohio State director of professional development Terence Dials about participating and that he agreed without knowing all the details about the upcoming journey. That led him to do some research.
It didn’t take long to realize that this was going to resonate differently than a high school history lesson.
“I didn’t know how in-depth it was going to be, so once I went down there and saw how detailed they went and how much stuff they had lined up for us I was like, ‘Oh wow,’ ” Key said. “This trip was so great because it was hands-on. We got to listen to speakers (who were) actually at the march down in Selma. We also got to go to some of the museums and see a whole bunch of different landmarks down there.
“It was definitely a lot better than reading it in the textbooks.”
The first day consisted of getting settled in Montgomery and listening to keynote speaker Sheyann Webb-Christburg, an eyewitness to the 1965 “Bloody Sunday” attack in Selma in which hundreds of civil rights activists were attacked and beaten by white state troopers and sheriff’s deputies. The Big Ten contingent also viewed the documentary series “Eyes on the Prize.”
