Footsteps to Freedom Exhibition Launch

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The Footsteps to Freedom exhibition which explores the Civil Rights Movement is launching at Discovery Museum Newcastle on Saturday 4th April 2015.   The 4th April is the anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968.  This Journey to Justice exhinition will become a national multi-media travelling exhibition and will include music, history, poetry and film and include presentations of projects for local, national and international social change.

Part of the exhibition will also feature material produced by the intergenerational group from Newcastle Space2 and Westgate Past who have been exploring some of the lesser known local stories of social justice and human rights issues.  Some of this material includes oral history interviews conducted by the young people with individuals who have been involved in loacl struggles.

The exhibition will be formally launched at 1.30 pm on Saturday 4 April 2015 by Marcia Saunders who was a volunteer in Freedom Summer, 1964, supporting African Americans in Tennessee to register their vote. Her story is one of those told in the exhibition. Former ANC activist and freedom fighter Archie Sibeko is the guest speaker and other performers include Crossings and Children NE.  

Open to the public at Discovery Museum from Saturday 4th April to Monday 4th May 2015 the Journey to Justice exhibition will focus on some of the less well-known men, women and children involved in the US civil rights movement, featuring stories that are seldom told in the UK. Visitors will meet courageous, ‘ordinary’ people who challenged a violent, segregated America. The exhibition will make links to UK civil rights stories and will also highlight struggles for rights on Tyneside. 

The region has a long history of leading movements for social justice. Newcastle was chosen for the launch because of its links with Martin Luther King, who was awarded an honorary degree in 1967 by Newcastle University. 

Tickets are free but please book through Eventbrite.

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