Perfectly timed with Martin Luther King, Jr., Day (January 19), the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta is presenting two new exhibits to honor the city’s native son and Civil Rights hero, both on view through May 3.
On view in the center’s temporary exhibition space: an original mural by street artist Gaia inspired by the social media hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown, which began in a response to how the media portrayed Michael Brown after he was fatally shot last summer. And “Strategies of the Civil Rights Movement”— in the Voice to the Voiceless Gallery—includes Dr. King’s diary from his time spent in Albany Jail, a letter from President Lyndon Johnson, and handwritten notes from his speech on Selma. (Selma, a film about 1965 marches for voting rights in Alabama, hit screens nation-wide last week.)
Other real-life traces of the Selma-to-Montgomery march are now on display at The New-York Historical Society—this time in the form of black-and-white photographs by Stephen Somerstein. The documentary artist captured everything from students sleeping on an overnight bus on their way to the march to Dr. King speaking to a crowd of 25,000 at the end.
Brooke Porter Katz is an Associate Editor at Travel + Leisure. Follow her on Twitter at @brookeporter1.
