The International Civil Rights Center and Museum (ICRCM) in the Woolworth building downtown is completed and open to the public. The ICRCM has been a long time in the making. Many hands have touched this project through the years, and to all of them we extend our admiration and gratitude.

Throughout the last century, the city’s leaders have described Greensboro as “progressive.” At the same time, Greensboro has been an epicenter for civil rights conflicts. The “progressive” label has been controversial, and many of the city’s civil rights activists have rightly disagreed with it.

The ICRCM and Sit-In Movement Inc., the owners of the museum, have had to fight an uphill battle in order for the museum to finally open its doors.

What their success demonstrates is that although not everyone in the Greensboro community adheres to a progressive ideology, progress is continually made by those committed to improving civil rights in our community.

Through their social activism, the steadfast members of Greensboro’s black community and civil rights movement allies have dedicated the center and museum to propagate and protect civil rights history.

The Sit-Movement Inc. was created to purchase the Woolworth building back in the early 1990s. The founders set goals for the project that are now evident in the museum’s many exhibits. They have not only memorialized the events that occurred at the Woolworth lunch counter, but created a community center that will support current and future civil rights leaders.

The museum aims to educate people at home and around the world about the violent abuses and struggles that happened in the South. It also honors the people that witnessed and experienced those struggles and have had to fight to over come them.

The ICRCM’s location is a great privilege and a gift to Greensboro. It is an opportunity to contextualize the experiences of an entire generation of black Americans, many of whom are still alive today and consider the civil rights movement as part of their collective, personal history.

We strongly urge the members of the Guilford community to make a trip downtown to participate in this educational experience, while at the same time supporting the greater cause of social justice.