Perhaps you should see it for yourself to really understand what went down during the civil rights era in America.

It was a dangerous time, but these students were masterful at the planning.

Coming up, we look at what the sites along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail can tell us about the people who put their lives on the line.

And what it means to be a country where equal opportunity is more than a slogan.

Good things can happen if you work long and hard enough and try to get people to find common ground.

And naturalist Chris Morgan explains what it's like at one of the farthest corners on earth.

The fragile ecosystem of the Svalbard Archipelago in the Arctic offers a front-row view to the challenges of climate change.

It's one of my greatest pleasures is to take people to these places and first hand inspire them and see the tears in their eyes and understand why these places are important that we all need to protect and care for.

From the civil rights trail across the South to the top of the world, come along. It's travel with Rick Steves.

The head of Alabama tourism tells us why the U.S. civil rights trail is something every American should explore in just a second.

And later in the hour, ecologist Chris Morgan tells us what his summer expeditions to the islands of Svalbard have shown him.

For years, Chris has been investigating bear habitats in the U.S. and Canada in Italy and in the Norwegian Arctic.

He'll tell us what you'll find at the last stop before the North Pole.

That's all just ahead on today's travel with Rick Steves.

For decades, United States citizens watched this black Americans fought to dismantle segregationist policies and gain equal rights and protections under federal law.

While the civil rights movement was a series of peaceful protests, it was sometimes marred with violence.

In the end, with the heroics of many brave people, it has affected great change.

But we still have a long way to go in inspiring racial equity across our country.

Today, we can visit sites of landmark monuments and moments of the civil rights movement all laid out on the U.S. civil rights trail.

Joining us now to take us on a journey all along this historic trail and all across the South is the director of tourism for the state of Alabama, Lee Centel.

His team was behind the campaign for the creation of the civil rights trail.

And he's authored a book about it and the book is just an inspiration. Lee, thanks so much for joining us.

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