Civil rights museum exhibit informs, inspires

The celebration of African American heritage month has taken a new twist.

Museums usually adapt the standard approach of hanging pieces of art on walls and placing explanatory captions nearby. 

But now at The Skirball Museum in West LA, visitors can celebrate Black History Month by viewing and participating in photography exhibits.  The first is entitled "Breach of Peace: Photographs of Freedom Riders," the second "Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement 1956-1968."  These exhibits document the struggle of African Americans during the Civil Rights movement.

"Road to Freedom" features more than 170 images along with related historical objects that helped change the nation.  Specifically, there are two photos in the exhibit that I found to be the most memorable. 

Bob Fletcher, a photographer for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Comittee, contributed a black and white photograph entitled "SNCC Poster on a Front Porch," published in 1965/66.  Taken in Mississippi, it displays a young African American boy reaching out for a woman who appears to be his mother.  In the background of this photo there is a SNCC poster, which inspires the youth to act "now" and participate in the Civil Rights Movement. 

What makes the picture most compelling is that it shows a child "reaching out" just as the poster calls him to take the same action.  

Another unforgettable image was taken in Texas, by Joe Schershel of LIFE magazine, in 1956.  It is entitled "Students Steve Poston and Jesssalyn Gray Taunted by White Supremacists."  What is surprising about this photo is the apparent nonchalance of two young African American students remained despite the enraged supremacists in the background.  Such racial hatred created daily obstacles that black youth had to rise above when the integration of public school began.