National Center for Civil and Human Rights and The Breman Museum & Cultural Center | Mommy and Me Monday | 832nd ed
E and I field tripped (with the majority of her 8th grade class) to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and The Breman Museum & Cultural Center on the same day. It was a heavy day with a learning and remembering history.
The top floor of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights has recently been redone and has a lot of activism in the Human Rights section. It was where we started.
There was a beautiful canvas at the entrance.
And reminders of the echoes of the past and the crises of the present. There were displays going back much further, but for the most part I tried to learn in the museum.
There was a wall of stickers the museum visitors could select to show what they stood for. I was particularly drawn to the blank “choose your own” and what people wrote on them. (I don’t think people are supposed to put their stickers on the display, but these were all there before oru students reached the area.)
I also wanted to include this with this QR code. You never know who might need it.
I’m reminded of this Pledge and the placards wording when reading the news right now and scrolling social media. “Progress seldom comes without cost”.
On the main level of the museum, we found the MLK, Jr. section as well as the broken promises gallery and the American Civil Rights Movement gallery.
I participated in the Lunch Counter Sit In experience where the chair rattles and you experience what it would feel like to have a person yelling in your ears and over your shoulder and calling you slurs. It’s 2:30 where you are immersed in it.
I grabbed another picture because I wanted to have the reminder “confronting harsh realities of history can be difficult, but it is important to do so for understanding, acceptance and healing.”
I’d like to add that we need to see it and feel it to be reminded of it and learn from history. I’d like it to not repeat, but I feel like it already is.
After the Civil Rights Museum, we drove over to the The Breman Museum & Cultural Center. I had no idea this museum existed and I’ve been to the Center for Puppetry Arts right across the street many times.
We were in small enough groups that we had a docent take us through the museum. She was incredibly knowledgeable and engaging for our group.
We spent a large portion of the time in the museum in the first room talking about the history of anti-Semitism. The reminder of just how long this hatred has been around is so sad.
And then we all know what happened in the 1930s and 1940s. The museum featured mostly items from Jewish families that had made their way to Atlanta.
There were stories of survivors and those that were one of the 7 million lives taken during the Holocaust.
After the tour, we viewed a video from a survivor who was able to tell the story of herself and her family in hiding.
Because of our time constraints, we only had an hour tour, but I definitely want to go back. I asked and if you have a group of 15, you will have a tour guide as well as a Holocaust survivor join your group.
It was a heavy but important day for the 8th graders (and us chaperones, too).
We must remember!
What did you do this week?
GET IN THE PICTURE WITH YOUR KIDS! Who cares what you look like? Who cares how you appear? Who cares what you are wearing? JUST DO IT! Come share your picture on the Facebook thread or use #MommyAndMeMonday!
It’s time again for Mommy and Me Monday. Pop out from behind that camera and capture yourself in action with your kids. Check out the inaugural Mommy and Me Monday for more information. Need another reason to participate in Mommy and Me Monday? Read my post about why I blog with words from a friend’s husband.
