The NCRM In Crisis~ War Of Words Continue @ City Hall...

Reported by Jason Miles
(Courtesy Of Action News 5 Of Memphis)

Control Of National Civil Rights Museum Debated

To View And Listen To The News Story Click On The Following Link:

The Debate About The NCRM Rages On

"And this business of the state entering into negotiations with this tightly controlled board to continue the status quo will not wash with the African-American community of Memphis Tennessee!"
~The Honorable Judge Bailey Civil Rights Icon And Founder Of The National Civil Rights Museum



"My job is to keep the thing moving...I've lent my name and enthusiasm to raising millions of dollars and I hope to raise millions more...It's important."
~The Honorable Benjamin Hooks, Civil Rights Icon And Recent Recipient Of The Presidential Medal Of Freedom

Updated: Nov 6, 2007 09:25 PM

Once united in the Civil Rights Movement, many are now divided over who should control the National Civil Rights Museum. They expressed their views during Tuesday's city council meeting.

"Our friends are not silent on this issue--will not be silent!" said Judge D'Army Bailey.

Bailey and others believe the museum's governing board is too white and too closely tied to big business. The council considered the possibility of taking over. But it dropped the issue during Tuesday's meeting.

"And this business of the state entering into negotiations with this tightly controlled board to continue the status quo will not wash with the African-American community of Memphis Tennessee!" said Bailey.

But plenty of African-Americans believe the museum remains in the right hands.

"Anyone who runs a non-profit in Memphis or anywhere else knows that government cannot do everything," said National Civil Rights Museum President Beverly Robertson.

Longtime board chairman Benjamin Hooks, commended by the council for his Presidential Medal of Freedom, agrees.

"My job is to keep the thing moving," said Hooks. "I've lent my name and enthusiasm to raising millions of dollars and I hope to raise millions more," he added. "It's important."

Opponents claim the museum has been hijacked.

"We have to control our legacy and our history--it's been taken from us," said museum board critic Laurice Smith.

As has, she says, part of Dr. Martin Luther King's dream.

The museum's governing board currently leases it from the state. Final negotiations of a new lease are underway.

City council members say they will re-visit the issue of taking over if those negotiations are not successful.

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*Listen To Judge D'Army Bailey Discuss The NCRM In Crisis On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2007/09/23/tha-artivist-presentswe-all-be-radio

More NCRM In Crisis Articles On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. :
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/search?q=national+civil+rights+museum