In the News Pt. 2

You never know when there's an opportunity to connect with someone so you need to be open to chance meetings and the wonderful things that can come from those meetings.  I connected with an interesting gentleman recently and it led to an interview and opportunity to share a little bit about my passion for African American History.  Rich Reese allowed me to talk about and promote my current exhibit, Freedom By any Other Name, on his show.  Rich hosts a show on KDHX  Independent Radio Station  88.1   Pop! The Beat Bubble Burst  and he put his on spin on celebrating Black History Month and has done so for the past several years.  He now has a new fan and listener.  I hope you'll join me on Thursday mornings by tuning into his show from 10 a.m. to noon.  As soon as it is up, I'll share the show that was recorded this week.  Thanks Rich!

In the News

February 2014                                                                                   

We received an invitation from KWMU radio (NPR) to discuss our upcoming Sunday program, A Tribute to Mrs. Rosa Parks and the ongoing exhibit Freedom By Any Other Name.  Pat Partridge the Christ Church Cathedral choirmaster and organist and I shared some thoughts about the hymn Mr. Partridge wrote, Mrs. Parks and the significance of this year's exhibit in the nave of Christ Church Cathedral.  Take a few minutes to listen.

 http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/christ-church-cathedral-pay-tribute-rosa-parks

Please join us Sunday, February 16th at 2:00 p.m. at Christ Church Cathedral 1210 Locust across from Central Library in downtown St. Louis.  The exhibit is on display in the church nave through the first week of March.

P.S.
The concert "A Tribute to Mrs. Rosa Parks" was an inspired offering and gift to the St. Louis community.  The choir, guest soloists, organist and choirmaster Mr. Pat Partridge and the angelic voice of Ms. Angel Riley were soul stirring and not to be missed.  Plans are underway for next year's concert, put this on your 2015 calendar now!  To hear and view excerpts from the concert click here.

Intersecting Histories

Intersecting Histories is a Facebook project designed to encourage the Facebook community to exchange  photographs and stories creating a different way of sharing our common history.  The idea came from the museum's current 2014 display Freedom By Any Other Name.  While many history books have condensed African American history into a few chapters accompanied by a select few iconic images, Black history is so much more.  Woven into the fabric of the story of America and its people, our stories intersect one another, creating a rich tapestry.  The images of our family scrapbooks present a more accurate description of "our'" history.  I encourage you to visit us on Facebook and share your family photographs and stories.  

"The treasured images of our parent’s and grandparent’s scrap books are the more accurate depictions of our history. Looking into the eyes of these haunting images, their stories beg to be told and shared. While some names may have been forgotten their stories live on in the precious photographs that capture their pride, strength, resilience, hope and determination."

Sister Ebo

     If you don't know the name Sister Antona Ebo, here's one to add to your list of Amazing African American women and Civil Rights pioneers.  Sister Ebo is a Franciscan Sister of Mary and a true St. Louis treasure.  If you have the opportunity to hear her share her amazing life journey I urge you to do so.  It's an honor to be in the presence of this humble, outspoken, wise woman.  Still sharing her gifts and talents with the St. Louis community, Sister Ebo brags that she will turn 90 in April 2014.

                   photographed with Sister Ebo at a St. Louis Public Library event January 2014


                        
Sister Ebo received the St. Louis American Newspaper's Lifetime Achievement award in 2012 and was introduced with this short film (above) honoring her career.

Pete Seeger

A couple of years ago I was researching information on an upcoming speaker for the museum.  In that research I continued to come across the name of Pete Seeger.  I knew the name from the Civil Rights era but more so from the children's records I played for my preschoolers and Kindergartners.  Mr. Seeger's music was woven through the Civil Rights movement and beyond.  I decided to write to him and thank him for his gift of music.  I shared with him information about the Hands on Black History Museum and how it was my vision to share the legacy of those in the movement with the next generation.  To my surprise he wrote me back and sent a letter and copy of his book, "How to play the 5-String Banjo."  Today, January 28, 2014 it was announced that Peter Seeger had passed away at the age of 94. 

Once more, shall we?

     The 2013 photography exhibit "As if We Weren't There" at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis was a great success.  After the exhibit was taken down and stored the conversations continued and the pictures continued to come in.  Folks remembered they had pictures and wanted to share them  as well as the stories that accompanied many of them.  Recently I purchased a photo album filled with African American photographs.  There they were again, those eyes staring at me, begging for their stories to be told or at  very least for their faces to be seen and not forgotten. In preparing for the past photo exhibit we reached a place where we had to stop and tell one of many chapters from the story of Us.  As I looked through the new pictures and considered the many I've collected I wonder, do I continue with yet another chapter?

"So much to do...so little time!"

The End of a Journey

A week seemed like such a long time.  We wanted so much to take it all in and then it was time to end our southern journey.  We learned and saw so much and still there's a need to return and learn more.  Our final stop was the  Civil Rights Memorial at the Southern Poverty Law Center.  A perfect ending to our long journey.  The memorial honors those who died during the Civil Rights Movement from 1954-1968.  The memorial is a circular black granite table with the inscribed names of 40 individuals whose lives were taken. A gentle flow of water bubbles from its center.  The wall behind the table has an inscription from a speech given by Martin Luther King Jr.  with water that flows in front of it.  It is breath taking.

Inside the memorial were displays giving the history of Montgomery.  The walls held stories and pictures of the individuals the museum was dedicated to.  A beautiful film "Faces in the Water," connected the faces and their stories and the names found in the memorial fountain.  I found food for thought in a quote by Robert F. Kennedy on a display wall. The excerpt is taken from The Day of Affirmation Address, University of Capetown , Capetown, South Africa, June 6, 1966.

"Few will have the greatness to bend history: but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events, and in the total of all these acts will be written the history of this generation."

"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped.  Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

At the end of our visit we added our names to the Wall of Tolerance:  

Deborah Nelson Linck             Paula Rodriguez. 

 The Wall of Tolerance records the names of people who have made a commitment to work in their daily lives for justice, equality and human rights- the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement.