November might be a month when people start thinking about the holidays, however, the International Civil Rights Center and Museum isn’t slowing down. In fact, the museum has a lot going on in the month that’s the least favorite among turkeys…
- On Thursday, Nov. 7, the museum opened a new exhibit called “Patient No More: People With Disabilities Securing Civil Rights.” Sponsored by the UNCG, the exhibit “explores disability rights activism in the San Francisco Bay area in the 1970s and its model of accessibility for people with physical, cognitive, and developmental disabilities.”
On Friday, Nov. 22, at 2:30 p.m., there will be a panel discussion held on the exhibit that will remain on display until Wednesday, Dec. 4.
- The museum will also take a look at the global climate crisis. On Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 4 p.m., there will be a panel discussion and a community conversation titled “24 Hours of Reality: Truth in Action.” That discussion will teach people about the crisis and some potential solutions. Presenters will include Bill Markham, the retired director of UNCG Environmental Studies; Richard Koritz, ICRCM board member and Postal Union activist; and Sandra Koritz, chair of NC Triad Jobs with Justice and the president of AARP Chapter 354.
That event is free and open to the public.
- On Saturday, Nov. 23 at 3 p.m. there will be a presentation and lecture at the museum titled “American Constitutional Resurrection and the Unrepentant Redeemed.”
At that event, Prof. Will Harris will discuss the “American story of the last 150 years” and the resistance to change after the Civil War. According to materials promoting the discussion, “The Biblical narrative is a powerful parallel in its account of a People’s refusal to embrace its redemption and to enter into a new way of life. But this is not about religion. It is an instructive lesson in the precariousness of fundamental change.”
The event is free and open to the public.
- On Saturday, Nov. 30 at 3 p.m., the museum will celebrate World AIDS Day with a panel discussion and a program sponsored by People Living with HIV. At the event, the museum will unveil the “AIDS Memorial Quilt,” which will be put on display at the museum until mid-January, 2020.
Like many other events at the museum, this one is also free and open to the public.
I have lived in Greensboro most of my life. As a young man, I was here when the sit-ins occurred. Both of my parents worked “downtown”. Lunchtime was a very busy time @ Woolworth’s. Many diners had a person standing behind them, waiting for their seat. A bustling place. So I was raised in a segregated society, paying no attention to it as it was “just the way it was”.
Personally, I did not understand whey “colored” people had to dine separately, use separate water fountains or toilets, hotels, and so forth. I knew quite a few “colored” people. I neither liked nor disliked them because they were black. They were people like everyone else. Black men and women fought and died for our Country; WWII, Korea , and all – It was just not right to be second class citizens.
I proud that black people sat in, here in Greensboro. It was about time.