On Monday mid-morning, June 15, I joined with a number of Chicagoans at The Field Museum to view 150-plus images in a compelling exhibit presented by the Chicago Urban League.
"Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956 – 1958" is a gripping and emotional black-and-white display taken by photojournalists, artists and amateurs alike, and how they played such a significant role in uncovering “the atrocities of racism, shaping public opinion and spurring a revolution that changed a nation.”
Viewing the photographs, I slowly became very emotional, very teary-eyed and anxiety overwhelmed me to the point that I had to walk away from the semi-darkened room to the light. I had lived through that era, and many of the images in the exhibit I had seen before, and many I had not.
But it was the familiar photographs that caused my reaction. I remember seeing the dogs attacking Black folks who only wanted to register to vote or merely to vote. I remember seeing Black folks under siege by water hoses. I remember seeing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leading the march from Selma to Montgomery on “Bloody Sunday.” I remember seeing Rosa Parks being fingerprinted by police after she refused to give up her bus seat to a white woman. I remember seeing Dr. King and Dr. Ralph Abernathy being hauled off to a Montgomery jail. I remember seeing Black men walking in Memphis with signs declaring, “I Am A Man.” I remember seeing …
But that was years ago. I thought surely those images were buried deep in my memory. But not so! As I looked at the photographs, it was as if I was seeing them for the first time, and I was so very angry, so angry that my eyes welled with tears and I fought not to actually cry.
I could not complete the tour. But I have promised myself that I will go back – long before the exhibit closes on Sept. 7. But I will be prepared for what I will see. As the song says, “I will stand right still and steady myself.”
I urge you all to take in the exhibit that’s being presented in conjunction with this summer’s National Urban League conference in Chicago, hosted by the Chicago Urban League.
Just know in advance that the images are a powerful reminder of just how far we have come as a nation and how far we yet need to go!
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