Albany: the civil rights movement in Georgia

In southwestern rural Georgia, Albany gave birth to musician Ray Charles and an important chapter of the civil rights movement.

The downtown, theater of the civil rights movement in Georgia, requires a car to navigate between distant neighborhoods.

The Albany Civil Rights Institute recounts in detail the history of the Albany Movement, a campaign of peaceful protest involving Martin Luther King himself in the nineteen-sixties.

A few minutes away, the Ray Charles Plaza celebrates the legendary musician born in the city, with a bronze statue overlooking the Flint River.

Continuing along the river, you visit the Flint RiverQuarium, a small aquarium dedicated to fish species native to Georgia's southern Flint River.

Towards evening, Albany's historic downtown comes alive with various restaurants in early twentieth-century commercial buildings.

The Albany Movement, which began in 1961 as a coalition of local civil rights groups, attracted national attention when Martin Luther King Jr. participated personally, although it did not immediately achieve the hoped-for results.

Ray Charles, born in Albany in 1930 before moving away early on, is celebrated in the city with a plaza and statue dedicated to his musical legacy.