The National Center for Civil and Human Rights expands at critical time in US history
Atlanta – A popular museum in Atlanta is developing at a critical time in the United States – and unlike the Smithsonian Institution, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights is funded by private individuals, which immediately exceeds him from Trump administration efforts to control what Americans learn about their history.
The renovation of the months, which cost nearly 60 million dollars, adds six new galleries as well as classrooms and interactive experiences, by changing a relatively static museum in a dynamic place where people are encouraged to take measures supporting civil and human rights, racial justice and the future of democracy, said Jill Savitt, president and CEO of the center.
The center remained active before its reopening on November 8 through kindergarten education programs in the 12th year which include more than 300 online course plans; an LGBTQ +Institute; training in diversity, equity and inclusion; Human rights training for the police; And his truth & Transformation initiative to spread awareness of forced labor, racial terror and other historical injustices.
These are the same aspects of American history, culture and society that the Trump administration seeks to dismantle.
Drided by the civil rights icons Evelyn LowerY and Andrew Young, the center opened in 2014 on land given by Coca-Cola Company, alongside the Georgia Aquarium and the Coca-Cola world, and has become a major tourist attraction. But ticket sales decreased after the pandemic.
Now, the center hopes to attract more repeated visitors with immersive experiences such as “Change Agent Adventure”, intended for children under 12 years of age. These “change agents” will be invited to commit to something – regardless of size – which “reflects the responsibility of each of us to play a role in the world: to have empathy,” said Savitt. He opens next April.
“I think the advocacy and the creation of changes are a bit addictive. It’s contagious,” said Savitt. “When you do something, you see success, you really want to do more. And our desire here is to suck the appetite of children to see that they can be involved. They can do it.”
This philosophy is strongly different from the idea that young people cannot manage the truth and must be protected against unpleasant challenges, but Savitt has declared: “The story that we are racing here is the most inspiring story.”
“In fact, I think that is what makes America brilliant. This is something that he is patriotically proud.
“Broken promised”, opening in December, includes exhibitions of the era of the reconstruction of the civil war, interrupted when the white crowds sought to suddenly reversing the advances by ancient people in slavery. “We want to start guiding you in the conversation that we believe that we all see, but we do not say it purely and simple: progress. Backlash. Progress. Backlash. And this model that has been in our country since the dryness,” said its curator, Kama Pierce.
A historic marker of the Georgia of the Mary Turner lynching site in 1918 was marked several times with bullets, which Turner’s descendants gave it to be vandalized again.
“There are 11 ball holes and 11 grandchildren”, and the family’s words will be integrated into the exhibition to show their resilience, Pierce said.
Articles from the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. collection will have a much more important place, in a room that recreates King’s home office, with family photos brought by the first guest conservative of the center: his daughter, the Reverend Bernice King. “We wanted to raise the role of King as a man, as a human being, not only as an icon,” said Savitt.
No more enormous images of the most genocidal leaders in the world – Hitler, Stalin and Mao among others – with an explanatory text on the millions of people killed under their orders. In their place, there will be examples of victories in terms of human rights by groups working in the world.
“Research says that if you tell people that things are really bad and how horrible they are, you motivate people for a minute, then Apathy settles because it is too difficult to do anything,” said Savitt. “But if you give people something to hope that it is positive, that they can be done, you are more likely to cultivate a sense of the agency in people.”
And to double the capacity is an experience that many cannot forget: to join a sit-in of the 1960s against segregation. Wearing headphones as they take a lunch stool, visitors can both hear and feel an angry and segregationist crowd shouting that they do not belong. Because it is “heavy content”, says Savitt, a new “reflection zone” will allow people to stop later on a sofa, with fabrics if they need it, to consider what they have just experienced.
The expansion of the center was sown by the co-founder of Home Depot and PhilanthropE of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank, the Mellon Foundation and many other donors, for which Savitt has expressed its gratitude: “The corporate community is in defensive crouching at the moment-they could be targeted,” she said.
But she said that donors shared concerns about understanding people in citizenship, therefore support for teaching civil and human rights makes a good investment.
“Is it the history of democracy – which can participate?” Who has a word? Who can have a voice? ” She said. “Our donors are therefore very interested in a healthy, safe, dynamic and prosperous America, that you need a healthy democracy.”
