This week, Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Nedra Rhone and her 12-year-old daughter Layla are on the road, traveling to five Black history museums in five days.
When Rhone was growing up in Chicago, her parents took her on similar summer trips. And, just like them, she has a mission — to educate her daughter about significant moments in American history and culture.
Third Stop: Montgomery
The Legacy Museum was the one stop on our Black history tour that I was concerned about. I was worried about how it would impact Layla, who is still forming an understanding of the more difficult moments in American history.
As it turned out, I didn’t need to worry.
“I learned about a lot of it in class. This just gave me an up-close view,” Layla said.
Credit: nedra rhone
Credit: nedra rhone
The Legacy Museum is like no other museum I have experienced. From slavery to mass incarceration, you feel as if you are there — in the slave pen, in the jail cell. You feel the pain. You feel the frustration. You can imagine the exasperation of knowing that sometimes, even when you do all you can do, it just doesn’t matter.
How then, does this museum keep you from falling into despair?
I’m not sure. But, by the time we headed to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, we felt strangely calm. Even as we wound our way through more than 800 steel monuments documenting the when, where and who of African American lynchings in America from 1877 to 1950, we were at peace.
Credit: nedra Rhone
Credit: nedra Rhone
A quote from Mary McLeod Bethune displayed in the museum best expressed our feeling as we left: “If we have the courage and tenacity of our forebears, who stood firmly like a rock against the lash of slavery, we shall find a way to do for our day what they did for theirs.”
There is much to see at this museum, it took us about four hours to complete. But it also reminded us that there is so much more to learn.
Also of Interest:
We didn’t have much time to take in other sites in the city, as we spent the bulk of our time at the excellent museum and memorial. We had lunch at the Legacy Plaza, a space outside the museum to rest and reflect. There are tables and food trucks. Had we had more time, we would have also visited the Rosa Parks Museum and the Civil Rights Memorial.
If you go
Credit: ArLuther Lee
Credit: ArLuther Lee
Follow our journey at https://www.ajc.com/opinion/real-life-blog/ and https://www.instagram.com/ajcnews/.
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