The Long Walk to Freedom:

Exhibit Celebrating Civil Rights Activists

The Long Walk to Freedom explores a crucial time when ordinary people did extraordinary things. The exhibition features photographs, archival materials, quotes, an interactive-DVD and a 15-minute video that highlights the contributions of 12 civil rights activists who changed the face of our nation. The example of their lives provides a blueprint for future activism for young people today.

The Long Walk to Freedom is an inter-generation, living-history exhibit and multi—faceted educational project celebrating the work of 12 civil rights activists of the 1960’s. The project was created by Community Works with funds provided by a California Arts Coucnil Arts in Education Demonstration Grant. The exhibit explores how-through grassrooots organizing these 12”ordinary” people from different racial and economic backgrounds came to accomplish extraordinary deeds, changing the face of the nation and giving birth to the civil rights movement.  The Long Walk to Freedom makes history relevant to today’s youth and offers them a vision of how they can make a difference in their own communities by examining the youth movement of the 1960’s.

The Long Walk is the culmination of an  18 month in-depth study by 60 students in the 11^th grade at George Washington High School- a public high school in S.F. These students met and interviewed the 12 activists, studied their lives and documented their experiences. They did so through a series of comprehensive activities and workshops during which they learned research and interviewing techniques; conducted biographical studies and personal interviews; and wrote essays, letters, songs and video –inspired by the stories they heard.

The Long Walk to Freedom is especially valuable because it is appositive presentation of how young people can do remarkable things. The project and exhibit has the power to provide a blueprint for activism-not only for those young people who studied the activists, but for all who experience it and participate in its programs.

The Long Walk to Freedom comprises historical photos, contemporary photographic portraits, archival materials, a graphic timeline (developed in collaboration with the Schomberg Research Center), and the poignant impressions of the young people who studied them.

The components of the comprehensive educational project include a state-of-the-art exhibit, interactive DVD, video introduction, guided tours, pubic forums, classroom workshops, curriculum materials and exhibit guide.   It is the centerpiece of Community Works’ oral history arts education programming that studies the lives of “local heroes” who are making a difference in their communities.  It introduces models of public service and community involvement.

Honorees include:  Robert Allen, Frances Beal, Janet Clinger, Bettie Mae Fikes, Jon Fromer, Matt Herron, Philip Hutchings, Yuri Kochiyama, Carlos Munoz, Willie B. Wazir Peacock, Eleanor Walden, and Cecil Williams- all of whom helped fight for racial equality in the 1960’s and are still making a difference today.

The exhibit is currently on display through March 2011 at: The Interchurch Center, 475 Riverside Dr., New York, NY