The Lorraine Motel housed under the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis is the infamous site of Dr. Martin Luther King's assasination. Upon a self-guided tour of the museum, you can track the history of civil rights from the beginnings of the African Slave Trade Route to the end of Dr. King's life. With interactive exhibits, oral narratives, and recounts through film you are able to begin to grasp the black experience in the United States as it pertains to social justice and civil rights.

Throughout our time in the museum, the group was in awe of a multitude of characteristics of the exhibits. In particular what stood out to some was the chance to see the visibilty of Black women as leaders. Many times in our history, we see women in roles supporting their male counterparts in their journeys to leadership. However, we were pleasantly surprised to see these often underrepresented group of women from Claudette Colvin to Coretta Scott King to Ruby Bridges.

However, the group was also disappointed in some of the aspects of the environment of the museum. Immediately, we were overwhelmed by graphic content including a uniform of a Klu Klux Klan member placed in dim and eery lighting. We had wished that there had been a warning to what we would encounter as it instilled fear in a lot of the girls. Furthermore, although it is very important for our white allies to educate themselves, it is also just as necessary for our allies to not take up too much space in their journeys of education. Unfortunately, this was not reflective in our experience at the museum. Along with being bumped into, the group also questioned the intentions of those visiting as many of the museum-goers were very quickly scanning the material of the museum and quicklymoving on.