ANDREA TAYLOR’S GOALS FOR THE BIRMINGHAM CIVIL RIGHTS INSTITUTE IN HER OWN WORDS
• Plan for 2017’s celebration of 25 years for this important institution that really has lessons to offer to the community, to the country and to the world about revolution and reconciliation, which is one of the cornerstones in Kelly Ingram Park. We have something to teach and share with the world that continues to struggle with civil and human rights issues and we want to do that by building on the lessons of the past and putting it in a context that will be helpful for the present and the future.
• Become a museum of the future that addresses issues of the past and provides a framework for operating and moving forward in a positive and constructive way in the present. As the institute ages, we need to look at new opportunities for using technology and other assets to really make it a contemporary exhibit that has more interactivity and is perhaps more three-dimensional. So there is an opportunity there to look at how we can continue to stay relevant and use the tools of the 21st century to tell the stories for present and future generations.
• Continue to be a place of education, research and documentation of oral histories that are contemporary and grow out of the work that has been generated, and the opportunities that have been generated, by the civil rights movement.
• Bring about lasting and meaningful change for the benefit of all. A place where civil dialogue and discussion can take place, and can occur around sometimes conflicting and contentious issues. I hope that we continue to straddle and explore the lines of possibility in both civil and human rights activities.
• Be a critical resource in this city and in the state, in the United States and in the world. Be that museum of the future that deals with the past to help us live productively in the present.
