ATLANTA (AP) – Atlanta’s popular museums are expanding at a key moment in the United States. It’s different from Smithsonian AssociationPrivately-funded Civil and Human Rights Centres exceed immediate reach Trump administration to control what Americans learn About their history.
The months-long renovation, which costs nearly $60 million, will add six new galleries, classrooms and interactive experiences, transforming the relatively static museum into a dynamic place where people are encouraged to take action in support of the future of democracy, racial justice, and democratic.
The center remains active rather than reopening on November 8th. K-12 Educational Program This includes over 300 online lesson plans. LGBTQ+ Research Institute. Diversity, equity and inclusion training. Human rights training in law enforcement agencies. And that Truth & Transformation Initiative Spread awareness of forced labor, racial fear, and other historical injustice.
These are the same aspects of American history, culture and society The Trump administration is about to dismantle it.
Encourage children to become “change agents”
Dreamed by civil rights icons Evelyn Raleigh and Andrew Young, the center opened in 2014 on land donated by the Coca-Cola Company next to the Georgia Aquarium and the world of Coca-Cola, making it a major tourist attraction. However, ticket sales have declined after the pandemic.
Now, the center hopes to attract more repeat visitors with immersive experiences such as “Change Agent Adventures” targeting children under the age of 12. These “change agents” are asked to “swear that no matter how small, they reflect their responsibility to play a role in the world. They will open next April.
“I think advocacy and changing changes can be a bit addictive. It’s contagious,” Savitt explained. “When you do something, you see the success of it and you really want to do more. And our desire here is to stimulate the kids’ appetites to see what they can be involved. They can do that.”
This spirit is completely different from the idea that young people cannot deal with the truth and must be protected from unpleasant challenges, but Savitt stated, “The history we call here is the most inspirational history.”
“In fact, I think it makes America great. It’s something that makes it proud of its patriotism. Long-term activists have worked together through non-violence, transformed democracy and expanded human freedom. There’s nothing more than Americans and nothing more.
Encourage visitors to be full of hope
Opening in December, Broken Promises includes exhibits from the postwar reconstruction era, cut short when previously enslaved people attempted to reverse progress. “We want to direct you with conversations that we believe we see, like everything, but we’re not saying that completely: progress. Backlash. Progress. Backlash. And that pattern has been in our country since enslavement,” Kama Pierce said.
What is on display is Mary Turner’s Lynch in 1918repeatedly pockmarked with bullets, donated to prevent Turner’s descendants from destroying it again.
“It lives in 11 bullet holes and 11 grandchildren,” the family’s words will be incorporated into the display to show their resilience, Pierce said.
Items from Morehouse College’s Martin Luther King Junior Collection are rooms that recreate King’s home office, with far more famous locations, and family photos are contributed by daughter Bernice King, the center’s first guest curator. “We wanted to lift our role as human beings, as humans, not just as icons,” Savitt explained.
The enormous images of the world’s most massacred leaders (Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc.) ended with descriptive texts about millions of people being killed under their orders. Instead, there are examples of human rights victory by groups working around the world.
“This research shows that if you tell people things that are really bad and how terrible they are, you motivate people for a minute and it’s too hard to do anything, so indifferent comes in,” Savitt said. “But if it wants to be positive and gives people the ability to see what you’re doing, you’re more likely to develop a sense of agency in people.”
Cultivating healthy democracy
And doubling your abilities is an experience that many people will never forget. It’s about participating in quarantine in the 160s. Wearing headphones when taking pictures of lunchtime stools, visitors can hear and feel angry, quarantined mobs screaming that they don’t belong. Because this is “heavy satisfaction,” the new “reflective area” allows people to pause on the couch and use tissues if necessary to consider what they have done up until now.
The center’s expansion was sown by Atlanta philanthropist Arthur M. Blank, the Mellon Foundation and many other donors, co-founder of Home Depot.
However, she said supporting citizen and human rights education would be a good investment as donors share concerns about people’s understanding of citizenship.
“It’s a democratic story – who’s going to take part? Who’s saying it? Who’s making the voice?” she said. “So our donors are very interested in a healthy, safe, vibrant, prosperous America.
