ReStory US is an immersive experience through the US South designed to help participants know, own and write a more honest American story. Americans hold in common the aspiration for “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” for all, and yet our widely differing past and present realities create multiple American narratives.  Too often we lack a shared story of who we are, how we got here, where we’re headed, and who we can become. 

By confronting difficult histories of injustice, the ways inequity persists today, and learning from radical peacemakers from the past and the present, ReStory US draws communities into the work of repair. This journey will provide you with the tools, relationships, and inspiration to wrestle with a more complete telling of the American story. With it, we can better work to heal the racial injustice, inequality, climate and environmental crises, and political polarization that plague our nation today. 

We engage with a variety of opportunities that prompt exploration, listening, learning, and connection. These include: 

• Visits to museums and historic sites that focus on crucial aspects of our history, from slavery, to Jim Crow, to the civil rights movement. 
• Meeting with peacemakers from the civil rights leaders and movement builders to nonviolence educators. We also meet with public historians, artists, and community stakeholders. 
• Participation in a Kingian Nonviolence training. 
• Discovering the impacts of racial injustice on climate, the environment, and medicine.
• A visit with indigenous communities in coastal Louisiana, examining the effects of climate change in their community.
• Learning about enslaved women from Alabama who endured unethical medical experiments and helped shape modern gynecology, and how racial disparities in healthcare persist today.
• Exploring  local culture through art and cuisine. 
• Sharing space and meals with locals from diverse communities. 

Will I be able to apply what I learn in my community even if I don’t live in the South? 
Through a trip with ReStory US, we come to understand how we are all connected though a history that has shaped the formation of every community in this country. As such, it gives us a holistic vision for how we might heal not only ourselves, but our communities as a whole. 
What does the cost of this trip cover? 
The cost of the trip covers everything within the itinerary, such as Telos staff, meals, snacks, accommodations, transportation, museum and historic site admissions, and guest honorariums. 

*Costs do not cover flights. This is the responsibility of each participant.*

Arrival Airport

Where? New Orleans, LA (MSY)

When? 12:00 pm CT March 20, 2025

Departure Airport

Where? Montgomery, AL (MGM)

When? 4:00 pm CT March 26, 2025

Host Hotels

New Orleans, LA: Hyatt Centric French Quarter

Jackson, MS: Westin Hotel

Selma, AL: St. James Hotel

Montgomery, AL: StayBridge Suites

Arrive in New Orleans by Midday

Check-In to Hyatt Centric

Welcome Gathering and Trip Overview

Gather in Congo Square

Dinner

ReStoryUS Orientation & Breakfast

Visit to the River Parishes & Historic Site Tour

Food From The Diaspora Dinner & Music

Group Processing and Breakfast

Meet with Free Dem Foundation & Vera Institute of Justice

Lunch

Drive to Jackson MS

Dinner

Worship at New Horizon International Church

Brunch

Tour Mississippi Civil Rights Museum

Visit The Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home

Dinner with Community Member

Check-out of Westin & Drive to Selma, Alabama

Tour of Civil Rights Sites in Selma

Check-In at St. James Hotel, Selma, Alabama

Walk across Edmund Pettus Bridge

Dinner with Community Member

Breakfast

Nonviolence Training

Lunch

Check-out of Selma, AL & Drive to Montgomery, Alabama

Tour of Downtown Montgomery

Dinner

Breakfast & Conversation

Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration

Lunch & End of Trip Conversation

Evening Return Flights