“We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.” ? Martin Luther King Jr. Sixty years ago, one of the “greatest demonstrations for freedom in the history of this country” took place on the Washington, DC Mall, according to Dr. Martin Luther […]
Tag: Education
Track the long struggle over who gets to learn and how, from Brown v. Board to the classroom battles of today. These posts cover school desegregation, education equity, and the threats facing public schools now. Education has always been a civil rights issue, and it still is.
Museum Statement on Supreme Court Affirmative Action Decision
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Yesterday’s landmark Supreme Court decision to reject race-conscious affirmative action in college admissions reminds us that the struggle […]
Dr. Noelle Trent to leave the National Civil Rights Museum
National Civil Rights Museum Director of Interpretation, Collections, and Education, Dr. Noelle Trent, announced she is leaving the museum to assume the role of President and CEO of the Museum of African American History in Boston & Nantucket. The news comes after eight years of bringing a broader national focus to the museum through world-class […]
Museum Launches Corporate Equity Center with AutoZone Support
The National Civil Rights Museum (NCRM) announces its launch of the Corporate Equity Center. The NCRM’s Corporate Equity Center will provide programs to learn, discuss, and reflect on how inequities filter into decisions that are barriers to Black advancement in corporations and other workplace settings. AutoZone has provided many resources and contributed $5 million seed […]
Museum Statement on the Passing of Secretary Colin Powell
The National Civil Rights Museum expresses deep sorrow in the passing of 1997 Freedom Award honoree, Secretary Colin L. Powell. Secretary Powell was appointed by President George W. Bush as the 65th Secretary of State in 2000, becoming the first African American Secretary of State in the U.S. Powell was a professional soldier for 35 […]
Museum Statement on the Passing of Bob Moses
The National Civil Rights Museum mourns the passing of civil rights icon Bob Moses, a visionary leader, innovative educator and champion for voting rights. Moses received the museum’s Freedom Award in 2014. Bob Moses was born Robert Parrish Moses in Harlem, NY. He understood that access to the ballot for the most underserved required educating […]
Museum Selects Russell Wigginton as New President
The National Civil Rights Museum has named Dr. Russell Wigginton as the museum’s next president. Wigginton will begin his new position on August 1. He brings 29 years of experience in education, philanthropy, executive management and program development, as well as strategic planning and partnership building. Museum Board Chairman Herb Hilliard stated, “We are fortunate […]
Farewell Terri
By Herb Hilliard Chair, Museum Board of Directors Terri Lee Freeman answered the call to lead the National Civil Rights Museum in November 2014. She arrived just a few months after the museum’s most expansive renovation. She came to the museum understanding the huge investment and brought with her a new perspective on what the museum […]
Gradual Matriculation: Brown vs. Board of Education
White columns guide you when entering the Brown vs Board of Education exhibition. On the right are pews and a short video recapping the world-changing U.S. Supreme Court decision on May 17, 1954, 66 years ago this week. For 89 years, schools across the South were racially segregated and drastically different. Despite a court order […]
We Were Prepared to Die: Freedom Riders
Fifty-nine years ago, the Freedom Rides of 1961 entered the state of Alabama. Potential violence awaited in Anniston and Birmingham. Below, the backstory of how the Freedom Rides began and how one of the most pivotal protests in the Civil Rights Movement came about. While we know the names of notable activists like James Lawson […]
Let?s stop tearing down community and build something we can all be proud of
By Terri Lee Freeman In early October the National Civil Rights Museum, along with Bridges and Facing History and Ourselves, launched a campaign to encourage empathy. Our Open Up. Spark a Connection. campaign was created to get people to do just what it says, open up! In the face of our national discourse, or possibly the lack thereof, […]
How are the Children?
I often think of a customary greeting in some African countries, ‘How are the Children?” The response is generally, “The children are well.” The question is asked because child well-being is a good measure of community well-being. Regrettably, we cannot provide that response. By all measures the children are not at all well. The policy […]