We hosted the first hackathon competition in Montgomery with the help of Revolution MGM, a group that strives to connect “creatives and technology professionals to make Montgomery and the surrounding region the place we want to live and work.” We brought together three teams of coders and designers and gave them our dream of a peace trial in Montgomery that users could engage with using their smart phones.

The result of this competition was this website/mobile experience and our partnership with the young and talented winners of the hackathon, Creatively Driven to develop the Dream Marches on Trail. Another recent partnership is with with the dynamic Cotton and Pine Creative who are using their skills to help us get the word out through print materials and other engaging mediums.

More local businesses like Wind Creek Casino’s Good to Go Food Truck, Netelysis and Stamp, institutions like the Alabama Archives and History Museum and media like WSFA have shown us love throughout the process. Together we are using tech and history to create Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s beloved community.

Our goal is simple: to engage the user with history of local and global peace movements through technology. The new Dream Marches on Trail debuts on the weekend of Bloody Sunday when thousands of people will flood to Alabama in order to honor those that came before and take their place in the history being made today in Selma and Montgomery.

During our travels Stephanie and I would come to discover the significance of Montgomery’s history to people around the world. The blank face that came after trying to explain where Alabama was in the US was soon chased by a dawning look of excitement and respect as we related our hometown of Montgomery in the context of the modern civil rights movements. This would go on to spark a conversation that left both sides feeling more connected than before.

We want to share that excitement with the Dream Marches On Trail and to pay that connection forward to young people, local residents and the people from all over the world that will travel here this weekend.

Please join us in finding your path to peace through history.