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Monday, November 28, 2016
By Terri Lee Freeman, Museum President
Like Everyone in America, I have spent time reflecting on the election. Not just Tuesday, November 8, but the 18 months leading up to Election Day. Three elements of this election have stood out and provide us with an agenda for the future.
We have the privilege and responsibility to exercise our right to vote .
Why a privilege and not a right? We believe our nation’s very existence is based on the...
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Posted by
Connie Dyson
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Monday, November 28, 2016
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
By Terri Lee Freeman
Museum President
Something is drastically wrong in America. It was earlier this summer when we thought we had seen the worst of the assaults on African-American men by police and the justice system. But, in the words of Yogi Berra, "it's deja vu all over again." Yesterday morning, September 20, we woke up to reports of Terrence Crutcher, an unarmed African-American man, being shot and killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The helicopter pilot...
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at Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Thursday, September 1, 2016
By Terri Lee Freeman
Museum President
It’s been little more than a week since the closing ceremony of one of the most memorable Olympic competitions in history. The United States secured its largest number of medals ever in a non-boycotted Olympics.
The Rio Olympics saw a number of firsts – the first refugee team, the first African American woman to medal in an individual swimming event (gold no less!), the first American female to win gold in wrestling, Ibtihaj...
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Connie Dyson
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Thursday, September 1, 2016
Commentary by Terri Lee Freeman
President, National Civil Rights Museum
Three mornings this week we’ve awakened to news of horrific violence. Three incidents. Seven people dead. Two dead from police violence. Five dead from retaliation. 36 hours. Senseless. My heart grieves for every family that has suddenly lost a loved one. My heart grieves for our nation.
We are living in perilous times. Times where individuals have become emboldened in their...
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Commentary by Terri Lee Freeman
President, National Civil Rights Museum
On Saturday, July 2, 2016, the world lost a survivor, an advocate, a teller of truth, and a believer that ALL human life has merit and purpose. Elie Wiesel was a Holocaust survivor, an author and a Freedom Award recipient in 1995. He worked to ensure that we would never forget the atrocities of the Holocaust and continued to draw attention to the horrors of genocide throughout the world. He...
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By Terri Lee Freeman
Museum President
The Sunday morning news account of the horrific and tragic slaughter that occurred at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida was particularly disturbing to me. For one thing, it brought back memories of two tragic events that I worked through in Washington, DC – September 11 th at the Pentagon and the Naval Yard shooting. In my mind, all I could think about were the families and the trauma they are now facing.
But I...
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The Lorraine Motel was forever etched in America’s collective memory with the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, but even before that fateful day, the property at 450 Mulberry Street had a fascinating history in its own right. Before it was the Lorraine, it was the Marquette Hotel that catered to black clientele in segregated Memphis. Then, in 1945 black businessman Walter Bailey purchased the hotel, which he re-christened the Lorraine after his wife Loree and the...
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We are deeply saddened by the passing of Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles. Our deepest condolences to the Kyles family.
Rev. Kyles was a beloved member of the National Civil Rights Museum family and a lifelong member of the National Civil Rights Museum board of directors. As a lasting tribute, he will be named board member emeritus.
In death, as in life, Rev. Kyles' highly acclaimed story as the last “witness" to Dr. King’s final hours will remain in the The...
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Monday, April 4, 2016
By Terri Lee Freeman
Museum President
April 4, 1968 was a dark day in our nation’s history. On that date we lost the hope of many. For some, it simply solidified what they believed to be true -- that hate and evil win once again. And, still for others the message was sent that even with civil rights gains, race relations in the United States of America had a long way to go.
Today, in 2016, it is clear that that last statement remains true,...
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Connie Dyson
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Monday, April 4, 2016
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
by Ryan M. Jones
Museum Educator
In March 2016, the National Civil Rights Museum opened a controversial exhibition entitled Kin Killin’ Kin . Artist James Pate has created images comparing Black-on-Black violence to the history of terrorism by the Ku Klux Klan. The graphics show African American youth murdering each other wearing Klan regalia. Visual references to episodes in the Civil Rights Movement and the Hip Hop...
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Posted by
Connie Dyson
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Wednesday, March 23, 2016