Of course I am anxious to hear about your visit to the National Civil Rights Museum. I have not been there in some time--well before the renovations--so I am eager to hear about what has changed.
Since I missed out, I thought I'd share with you some photos I took four years ago, when I took my African American Literature class there.
National Civil Rights Museum
ReplyDeleteThis is the one place out of all our class treks, I have visited. I took my church Sunday school class during spring break last year, but I was still surprised when I entered into the building. The museum has added, new exhibits, an Art Gallery in the front, and a movie room. A prominent artist, James Pate from Ohio, displays a wall to wall art of the KKK (Kin Killin’ Kin) black on black crime. It was sad to see, the more we think things have changed; the more they actually stay the same. A long time ago, black people were used to capture black, men and women, to be sold into slavery. Today, black slavery is depicted in another form; drugs and killing each other.
Three exhibits really stirred up an emotion in me. The first one was; A Culture of Resistance: slavery 1619- 1861- was of black slaves on the boat, confined to a space in a crunch position, and was not allowed to go to the bathroom, or get up, the way they were treated was inhumane. Whites did not consider black to be human at all. The second; was the testimony of a black woman from Mississippi, telling the courts of the abuse from the police, and how they beat her and others, for trying to exercise their right, to just register to vote. And finally; the exhibits of the Gay Rights Protest, I feel this has no comparison to the struggle of equality for blacks. Gay and Lesbian is a choice, Black (Negro) is not. It does not add up to me, it’s not the same; and I feel it should not be part of the Civil Right Museum exhibits. If they are going to add this why not add the ADA (American Disability Act) which was a piece of the legislation of the original Civil rights act in 1964 and was an amendment of the civil rights in 1988
Brenda, you make some very strong and valid points that I think are important to make. I can imagine how many of the exhibits can stir the emotions in powerful ways--and it is all the more powerful to see images and to be confronted with the magnitude of human suffering that Africana people all over the world have suffered. I admit I am surprised that the Gay/Lesbian experience was reflected there. Although I must disagree with your point about it being a 'choice,' I agree with you that it is altogether a far _different_ experience all its own. I do appreciate your opinion, however. I also want to add, regarding African Americans "killing each other" that one of the points I make about African American literature and history in my class is that it is circular: History tends to repeat itself in myriad ways, and one thing the African American people have suffered in this country is the rearticulation of slavery throughout the years since Reconstruction. It is truly a disconcerting site to see how the "institution" reasserts itself even in this day and age.
DeleteI truly enjoyed our visit to the National Civil Rights Museum. I remember going when I was young and it was my favorite museum that I had ever visited. The new changes are amazing and there are LOTS of changes from what I remember. There were so many new exhibits and so much more information, in a way it was kind of overwhelming. I know I will be going back to take it all in because I didn't get to absorb it all. I notice all the new high-tech aspects that the museum offers and notice that the children there loved it. They had touch screens all over filled with information, videos playing everywhere, and phones that could be picked up and you could hear recordings of people that were apart of the movement. The bus is still one of my favorite parts of the museum, I think it is the child in me loving to interact with exhibits. I really was moved by the KKK (Kin Killin' Kin) art exhibit because it is from a time period that I have witnessed and I'm living through still to this day. It is very eye opening and relevant to this time. A newer part of the museum that I found interesting was the exhibit across the street where you can see the room where the fatal shot was fired that killed the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I still enjoy the National Civil Rights Museum even with the new exhibits and plan to return.
ReplyDeleteI really, deeply regret that I could not join you for the tour. It sounds like there have been some amazing additions to what was already a fascinating and emotionally provocative experience. I am so glad you all went and got so much out of the tour.
DeleteI had never been to the National Civil Rights Museum before, it was something that my school never did. My first visit will be remembered, not just for the difficulty I had in finding a place to park, but for what I found inside the museum. I was enormously impressed by the sheer size of the museum, it took us two hours alone to make it through the main building and another half hour or so in the second building across the street. The Kin Killin’ Kin exhibit was enormously touching, I listened to a woman explaining to a group of kids that not all rap music is good and pointing out the number of rappers who have died in order to illustrate the culture of violence that precipitates not only cops shooting black kids, but black kids shooting black kids.
ReplyDeleteAll through the tour we kept noticing a film crew at work. I Googled what was being filmed at the Civil Rights Museum when I got home that afternoon. A documentary for PBS called The Talk was being filmed, which is why there were so many people at the Museum that when we went in the line was out the door. It’s going to air on PBS this fall and is about the talk that working class minority groups have to have with their children explaining why black kids seem to get shot by the police for no reason and why as a minority they stand a better chance of going to prison.
I loved how many of the exhibits were designed to be interacted with, things that you could listen to, touch screens to zoom in on places and stories, things like the bus that you could get on and listen to Rosa Parks’ story, counter from the diner where the sit-in occurred, the burning Greyhound bus. I feel strongly about the fact that you have to interact with history in some way in order to make it real and meaningful and I was impressed by how well the Civil Rights Museum had done that.
I am so glad you took initiative to look up the documentary being filmed. If you hear any more about it, do send it my way, because I hope to incorporate it somehow in my classes.
DeleteOut of all the treks we have taken as a class a think this is quite possibly my favorite (although it would be hard to choose). I heard about the Civil Right Museum a lot before going obviously. However, It was way more than I was expecting! I thought it was just going to be a small exhibit with a few pictures, but it was really cool. To be honest I thought I was going to be a bit boring. Even from the outside it did not look very big. Once I got inside, though, I knew I was wrong. It’s huge! I got lost a couple of times. I loved all the interactive things that they had. I liked that a lot of the exhibits themselves were made to feel like you were a part of them. The Rosa parks bus and the sit-in counter recreations were as if you were really there. It helped me to get a clearer grasp of how it would have felt to experience these pieces of history first hand. All of the exhibits sort of immersed you in them in a way. The room of Martin Luther King at the Loraine Motel was really chilling. It is so surreal to think that such huge turning points in history happened here in Memphis such as the assassination of MLK Jr. and the sanitation strike. I have lived here my whole life and I did not know anything about the Sanitation strikes before I went to the Civil Rights Museum. This is something that, as Memphians, should be extremely proud to have as a part of our city. I will definitely be taking a few more trips to the Civil Rights Museum in the near future. I am super glad that I went. I learned a lot about my city and our history.
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Alex, I'm glad you enjoyed the tour and the museum itself. It is very beautifully put together. I agree with your comments on King's hotel room: that aspect especially made the experience quite sobering for me as well. I will miss seeing you, but we will keep in touch!
DeleteThis was my first time visiting the National Civil Rights Museum. Although I did not have any expectations of what it would be like, I was thoroughly surprised at how big the museum was on the outside. I was also amazed at how busy it was; the line to get in was out the door. The first exhibit we went to once we got our tickets was the Kin Killin' Kin. In the middle of the room, there was a huge display of bullet casings, signifying deaths caused by a gun. There was also a wall in the back where people could pay tribute to victims of police brutality. At first, I thought that the tour would not take very long and that it would be somewhat boring. However, this was so not the case. There were so many individual stories that were represented on the walls. Even though these were individual stories, they also symbolized how so many other people were discriminated against and treated as a lesser human being. One thing that stood out to me was the Freedom Riders were comprised of both African American people, as well as white people. I think this was important because it showed that not everyone in America was as prejudiced as the lawmakers were. A lot of the exhibits were emotionally moving, especially when a specific name and face was used. For example, the first African American man to go to Ole Miss tried to be admitted several times, each time being blocked by Mississippi's governor. He finally succeeded in getting admitted to the school, but his class mates were not thrilled that he was in there with them. As long as the "Separate but equal" laws existed, African Americans had to live in a country where the best they could have was second class citizenship. The National Civil Rights Museum was a great reminder of where America and Memphis have been, as long as history is remembered it becomes more difficult to repeat.
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