Journey to Justice: Exhibition from 7 February to 27 April

New Exhibition launched at Library of Birmingham on Friday 7th February 

Journey to Justice is the UK’s first major exhibition about the role of ‘ordinary’ women, men and children in the US civil rights movement and its impact on the UK.

The multimedia exhibition has been seen by 177,000 people in 14 places including Newcastle, Sheffield, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Liverpool, London, Leicester, Bristol and Dorset.

With music, art, poetry, films and oral history, it is free to visit during library opening hours February 7^th– April 27^th.

Local stories of social justice and human rights

As relevant today as ever, the exhibition also tells less told stories of struggles for human rights in the West Midlands. Birmingham has an extraordinary history of immigration and solidarity in the face of injustice.

The exhibition will highlight local stories:
the Sparkbrook Association, a community-led campaign for decent housing and playgroups and workers’ struggles for rights and decent conditions;
the Supreme Quilting and Burnsall strikes, led by determined Asian women in Smethwick;
the remarkable stories of trade union leader Will Thorneand Irish musician Luke Kelly, whose activism was shaped by their working lives here;
and the visit of Malcolm X to Birmingham.

Visit of US civil rights worker from Birmingham, Alabama

2.00pm to 7.00pm Saturday 4 April

NTCG The Rock, George Street West, Springhill, Birmingham B18 7HF

Janice Kelsey was 14 when she joined the 1963 ‘Children’s March’ against racism in Birmingham, Alabama. Her story is one of many from the US civil rights movement told in the exhibition. Janice and her daughter Katrice are flying specially to Birmingham to be the main speaker at a celebration event on April 4th, the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination. We will discuss what we can do about racism, poverty and war, the issues he highlighted and which are still with us today.