On MLK Day, A Letter To A Black-Themed Museum With Its MLK Day Exhibits. . .That Are Not Tied To Martin Luther King, Jr.
San Francisco's Museum Of The African Diaspora lets itself down with an antiseptic, invisible tribute to Dr. King on MLK Day
By Omar Moore
January 20, 2025
This photo, which the author took at the Museum of The African Diaspora, isn’t connected to the MLK Day exhibit (which doesn’t reference MLK at all) but to a separate installation that had no connection whatsoever to Dr. King.
January 20, 2025
Museum Of The African Diaspora
San Francisco, California
To those in positions of power at the Museum Of The African Diaspora (MoAD):
Dear MoAD Executives And Managers,
On this MLK Day in an otherwise very good exhibit I wish to express my profound disappointment in MoAD in its failure to sufficiently connect the words, deeds and human rights struggle of Dr. King to the present. Nowhere were there any audio or video of his speeches in the exhibit. Nor were there any particular quotes of his or recommended books or writings of Dr. King. These elements are indispensable and in a museum like this the paucity of Dr. King's teachings is deeply troubling. While I understand that this is a contemporary museum what is essential is that all of us, including those who lack an understanding of Dr. King's work and his life, get a more detailed and fulsome understanding of Dr. King's work and his meaning and his challenging of the American public, especially the white American public. The exhibits at MoAD on MLK Day do not in any way represent the essence of Dr. King's work and the mission we all have to change this country we call the USA—especially in these very perilous times.
Going forward, in subsequent MLK Days MoAD must tailor much more of its art exhibit to connect to Dr. King's message. The art displayed is important and necessary but I strongly recommend that the museum tailor its installations with a genuine connective focus on Dr. King's teachings and work. Art is supposed to be reflective and instructive — and I believe that MoAD is missing a big opportunity to provide that all-important education about Dr. King that is missing from a lot of schools across the country.
In closing I hope that you receive these words in the spirit of constructive criticism and even more so that you act in the spirit of Dr. King and Coretta Scott King and do something in your MLK Day exhibits to more pointedly and directly link the struggle of Dr. King and the Black Liberation Movement to the contemporary challenges we presently face.
Sincerely and respectfully,
Omar Moore
The Politicrat Daily Newsletter compiled by Omar Moore
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