'COURAGE' Is Here and We Need It

In this current climate we're living in, where struggles with public education are dividing people, right now is a good time for COURAGE. And you can experience it at Levine Museum of the New South. COURAGE: The Carolina Story That Changed America, an exhibit that tells the powerful story of the Rev. J.A. De Laine and other brave citizens of Clarendon County, S.C., who brought the first lawsuit in America challenging racial segregation in public schools, opened yesterday at Levine Museum and will be displayed for an entire year. The exhibit, which the museum created seven years ago, has just returned from a national tour and is back in Charlotte for the first time since 2004.

Today and tomorrow, Levine Museum is offering free admission and special programs and activities in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day (the museum validates free parking in Seventh Street Station).

You should encourage your family, friends, and colleagues to see COURAGE. Many people in this area don't know about the De Laine family and their town's story and how their fight for equal education opportunities led to them filing a lawsuit that was later combined with four other national lawsuits. The result was the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled that racial segregation of schools was unconstitutional. The exhibit is comprised of personal histories, photographs, artifacts, and interactive components, including one that shows you how far some black children in Clarendon County had to walk to school (nine miles, which is the equivalent of walking from Uptown Charlotte to Carowinds).

Below is a video promo about COURAGE and the MLK holiday.

Levine Museum of the New South is located at 200 E. Seventh St. For more details such as hours and events, visit www.museumofthenewsouth.org.

Then on Thursday, in conjunction with the exhibit, Levine Museum is featuring "COURAGE: Where Do We Need It Now? A Conversation with Juan Williams, Janet Murguía, John Payton, and William Winter," 7-9 p.m. at McGlohon Theatre at Spirit Square. This panel of prominent figures will discuss the legacy of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, as well as race relations and the challenges facing public education today. Juan Williams, civil rights historian and FOX News commentator; Janet Murguía, president and CEO of National Council of La Raza; John Payton, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; and William Winter, former governor of Mississippi, will also answer questions from the audience.

Tickets for this event are $25 for Levine Museum members; $35 for non-members/general public, and are available through N.C. Blumenthal Performing Arts Center Box Office at 704-372-1000 or www.carolinatix.org.