I Am A Man – Photo Exhibit

I Am A Man – Photo Exhibit

The Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City in partnership with the Mid-America Arts Alliance is hosting the I AM A Man: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1960-1970 exhibition, from Nov. 17 to Jan. 7, 2023.

The exhibit displays a wide range of photographs taken by amateurs, local photojournalists, and internationally known photographers. Together, they provide a vivid visual story of the evolution of the civil rights movement and shed light on the movement’s integration in the daily living in the American South.

Viewers of the exhibition will recognize the photographs of protestors who carried signs with messages like “I Am A Man” or sat at segregated lunch counters as iconic images associated with the movement, while numerous other photographs presented in the exhibition have rarely been seen until now. Key events include James Meredith’s admission to the University of Mississippi, Ku Klux Klan gatherings, the Selma Montgomery March in Alabama, the sanitation workers’ strike in Memphis, Martin Luther King’s funeral, the Poor People’s Campaign, and the Mule Train.

The free exhibit includes 47 photographs, plus a film and some collectible memorabilia.

The Black Archives of Mid-America is located in the Historic 18^th and Vine Jazz District, in Kansas City at 1722 E. 17^th St. The Archives is open Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays by appointment only.