“Anyone who lived through the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. almost can’t come through the National Civil Rights Museum because the event is so vivid in your mind. It’s chilling. You almost relive some of what you yourself may have experienced in those days,” says President Beverly Robertson, referring to the historically significant Lorraine Motel in Memphis where the slain civil-rights leaders spent his last day.
“When Colin Powell, one of our Freedom Award recipients, came through the museum, he said he and his wife could hardly make it because they almost broke down in tears,” recalls Robertson. “It causes you to reflect on how far we’ve come and the tremendous amount of pain, suffering and death that it took to get us where we are today.”
For many, discovering Black history becomes a personal journey toward understanding one’s self and society. It causes profound introspectionand this experience can occur in hundreds of museums across the nation, from Washington, D.C., to Detroit to downtown Los Angeles.
