{"id":3715,"date":"2014-07-23T04:55:44","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T08:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=3715"},"modified":"2014-07-23T04:55:44","modified_gmt":"2014-07-23T08:55:44","slug":"civil-rights-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/07\/civil-rights-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil Rights Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CivilRightsMuseumImages\"After attending the Americans for the Arts Convention in Nashville last month my wife and I went on to Memphis to explore another city that we had not visited. As part of that trip we went to the National Civil Rights Museum. (On a personal note, I had not registered the museum’s subtitle “At the Lorraine Motel” so when I arrived I had the breath knocked out of me seeing “the balcony.”) Coming so soon after the conference session I discussed in The Self-Centered Pursuit of Diversity<\/a>, I was primed to consider issues of race and class.<\/p>\n

It’s my understanding that the museum has just re-opened after extensive renovations. I’ll say I was very impressed. It handles the history and legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, the intense era of the 1950’s and 1960’s, and Dr. King’s assassination. I was particularly struck by the inclusion of contemporary justice issues. No museum could possibly cover all the territory that “civil rights” implies nor could one satisfy everyone, but it was one of the most riveting history museums I’ve ever seen.<\/p>\n

The moment (beyond seeing the sight of Dr. King’s assassination) that will most stay with me was seeing an older African-American woman in the area displaying the conditions in which slaves were kept on the ships from Africa to the New World. She was crying\u2013not just sobbing\u2013and attempting to hide that fact. I have had powerful moments seeing the realities of my Norwegian ancestors\u2013both in Norway and the Midwest. But those were simple historical facts of hardship, probably some desperation, and courage. They are nothing, nothing like what that woman must have been experiencing.<\/p>\n

At the very great risk of trivializing an unspeakably deep response to incomprehensible human evil, the point in the context of this blog is to be aware of how different the life experiences of those around us, whose background and cultures we do not share, are. The arts can certainly provide opportunities for healing or reconciliation, but developing the relationships that will allow those opportunities to be developed requires humility, respect, and serious efforts to understand.<\/p>\n

Engage!<\/p>\n

Doug<\/p>\n

Museum Entrance Photo: \"Attribution\"\"Noncommercial\"<\/a><\/span> Some rights reserved<\/a> by glennia<\/a>
\nMuseum Lorraine Motel Photo:\"Attribution\"\"Noncommercial\"<\/a><\/span> Some rights reserved<\/a> by SeeMidTN.com (aka Brent)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The arts can provide opportunities for healing or reconciliation, but developing the relationships that will allow them to be developed requires humility, respect, and serious efforts to understand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Civil Rights Museum\u2013Reminder of engagement principles: http:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-XV","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,13,42,47,37,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-3715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-principles","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-community-engagement","10":"tag-diversity","11":"tag-equity","12":"tag-museums","13":"tag-relationships","14":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/CivilRightsMuseumImages.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-XV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4229,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/08\/afta-thoughts-2015-staff-diversity\/","url_meta":{"origin":3715,"position":0},"title":"AftA Thoughts 2015: Staff Diversity","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"What if arts organizations were seen as robust contributors to better lives for African-Americans, Hispanics, recent immigrants, the poor, the disenfranchised? Enhance diversity by being valuable.","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/DiverseStaff-e1435326777756.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":204,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2011\/08\/winds-of-change\/","url_meta":{"origin":3715,"position":1},"title":"Winds of Change","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Some rights reserved by m.prinke In my last post, \"Click,\" I wrote about awakening to a disconnect between arts organizations and their communities. There has been little in the arts infrastructure that has encouraged commitment or relationships that went beyond the bounds of the arts establishment. And yet boundary-busting has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Examples"","block_context":{"text":"Examples","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/examples\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/WindmillsAtSeaCropped.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5729,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/10\/doomed-to-fail\/","url_meta":{"origin":3715,"position":2},"title":"Doomed to Fail","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Diversity, equity, and inclusion are vital to the future of the arts. The commitment to community that community engagement requires is an essential foundation upon which to build efforts in DEI.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Fail.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3081,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/07\/inspire-delight-and-surprise\/","url_meta":{"origin":3715,"position":3},"title":"Inspire, Delight, and Surprise","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been a while since I have cribbed from Nina Simon here. The time is right. Her recent post, Hack the Museum Camp, Part 2, was a lot of fun, with much good food for thought about our curatorial and management processes. In it she describes an adult summer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"InspireDelightSurprise","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/InspireDelightSurprise-300x108.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5113,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/01\/docents-as-engagers\/","url_meta":{"origin":3715,"position":4},"title":"Docents as Engagers","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Some time ago in a forum discussing community engagement, someone asked me what the role of docents should be in engagement work. It was a light bulb question for me. My professional background is primarily in the performing arts so I have always viewed box office workers and ushers as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Docent-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6464,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/10\/not-charity\/","url_meta":{"origin":3715,"position":5},"title":"Not Charity","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"For California's Riverside Art Museum relationship building with the area's Hispanic communities led directly to a huge influx of capital and a massive expansion of the facilities.","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Gold-e1427122302387.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}