Thursday, October 22, 2015

Montgomery, Alabama: Civil Rights Memorial Center

This is an interesting and noteworthy idea for a way to remember the Civil Rights Movement.

It's a building dedicated to those who paid the ultimate price for their work. It covers the years 1955 through 1968, and it includes tributes to some people you've heard of - Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It's not all African Americans, either. White social workers Andrew Goodman and Michael Henry Schwerner were murdered outside of Philadelphia, Mississippi, in a relatively famous episode.

The museum isn't too big and can be seen relatively quickly as these things go. There is a theater for a short movie, some exhibits, and a big screen that offers visitors a chance to add their names to a list of people who pledge to support equality, justice and tolerance (or at least such good qualities along those lines).

The highlight, though, probably is a big stone tablet in front of the building. The dates of the deaths of the martyrs are inscribed there, as long as key dates in the civil rights struggle. With Dr. King's quote in the background (shown in the photograph), it makes for a powerful image.

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