Roots: Civil Rights Museum

Edison Pleasants

Description:

 My piece of work is called "Roots: Civil Rights Museum" which is a fictional Civil Rights Museum that would be dedicated to learning more about the Civil Rights Heroesfrom Louisville, Kentucky, or who have visited Louisville, Kentucky. I was inspired by the Roots 101 African American Museum downtown to create Roots: Civil RightsMuseum. Since Louisville is a large city, it is shocking that we do not have any museum that could be used to highlight the broad and wide Civil Rights Movement of the1960s. Further, I wanted my museum to be less traumatic than the Civil Rights Museums that I have visited in other states. Most museums use monotone color palettes suchas orange, brown, and black, my museum features bright colors such as yellow, blue, green, and orange to make the museum a more fun experience. When people ofcolor go into a space that talks about traumatizing information such as police brutality, racial relationships, and segregation it can be hard to take in, so it is essential tohave a space where people of color can learn in. My museum would feature a meditation room on each floor, in addition to areas to rest and relax. The importance of amediation room is to give people of color an opportunity to take a break from traumatizing information.  Lastly, the focus of my museum would be the known Civil Rights Leaders from Louisville, Kentucky such as Anne Braden, and Muhammad Ali, and the unknown suchas Alberta Jones and Whitney Young. By allowing people of color to visit this space, they can learn that not just Martin Luther King Jr. was at the forefront of the CivilRights Movement, but so were Anne Braden and many more activists.