News Release

Facilitated Dialogue

The view from inside the "Door of No Return" on Goree Island, Senegal

National Archives and Records Administration

News Release Date: February 12, 2020

Contact: Rebecca Karcher, [phone]

ATLANTA-On Wednesday, February  19, 2020 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park will host a facilitated dialogue on "Understanding Black Trauma and White Fear" at the park's Visitor Center, located at 450 Auburn Ave NE. The program will both commemorate  Black History Month and continue the park's on­ going discussion on the 400th anniversary of the first landing of enslaved Africans to Virginia.

August 25, 2019 marked the 400th  anniversary ot  the tirst landing ot enslaved Africans to
Point Comfort in the English colony of Virginia -this site is now part of Fort Monroe National 
Monument.  To commemorate  this historic event the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park collaborated with the African-American Panoramic  Experience '.Apex) Museum to  remember  the 400th  Anniversary and to present an exhibition entitled  " 400 Years"  that features a life-size version of the "Door of No Return".  This exhibition provides opportunities for visitors to  encounter the horrific emotions felt by many enslaved Africans as they journey over four centuries to  America and hopes as a people, past and present, for racial equity and healing, each of which are consequential  works in progress 3nd important in moving forward beyond 400 years.

The teaser exhibition will be on display in the Visitor Center's atrium until February 29, 2020. The full exhibition on the history of slavery is at the APEX Museum, which is a short distant from the Park's Visitor Center at the APEX Museum Located on 135 Auburn Ave, Atlanta, GA, the oldest Black History Museum located in the city of Atlanta. This facilitated dialogue session will take place in the Visitor Center atrium, next to the teaser exhibition. The park invites the public to come and  "speak your truths", and open 3bout thoughts and feelings, create partnerships,  discuss promising practices, and develop 3 shared agenda for 
action.

Superintendent Judy Forte states,  "The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park is excited to  partner with the Apex Museum to engage in this important discussion. The Civil Rights movements struggles, and triumphs are connected to  moment the first enslaved
people arrived in what would become the United States, and the opportunity to discuss black trauma and white fear is also connected to that moment."

The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park's Visitor Center is open every day, 9 AM until 5 PM. The APEX Museum is open Tuesday- Saturday 10:00 AM  until 5:00 PM.

This NPS event is FREE to  the public. For more information, please visit www.nps.gov/malu and follow Facebook  MartinlutherKingJrNPS.