From the Museum
Our entire lives, both personally and professionally, have been focused on helping the disadvantaged and recognizing the struggle that millions of Americans have experienced with respect to their basic civil rights.
We are proud to serve as co-chairs of an innovative new cultural center, the Museum of Civil Rights. This museum will promote a greater understanding of the history and legacies of the modern civil rights movement while actively nurturing future generations of visionary leaders and catalysts for change.
We encourage you to join our movement and to help us achieve our goals of building a world-class cultural center in the heart of Harlem, New York. Your gift will enable the Museum of Civil Rights to help heal the historic lines of division in our society and to inspire those who continue fighting for social, political, and economic equality for all Americans.
Reverend Al Sharpton
“The museum is home to a tremendous showcase of the movements for civil and human rights founded and grounded in the northern United States. It pays homage to the areas of advancement of African Americans, Latino Americans, women, the LGBTQ community and other ethnic groups who all fought tirelessly against discrimination and bigotry.
It will tell their stories so others will be able to see both the challenges and hopes of the American dream through the lenses of people from different backgrounds fighting for the same united future.”
Judge Jonathan Lippman
Former Chief Judge of New York State and the New York Court of Appeals, and the recipient of numerous awards and recognition for public service and for his efforts to achieve social justice.
"For over fifty years as a public officer, jurist and lawyer, I have spent my life dedicated to the pursuit of fairness and equal justice for all. To achieve those ends for people of all races and ethnicities, for rich and poor, high and low alike, I cannot think of anything more important than the establishment of the Museum of Civil Rights. The record of the struggles for social justice in the Northeast and beyond will enrich immeasurably the lives of all those who enter the Museum’s doors."
Maurice Cox
“The Museum of Civil Rights the most important and exciting one. Why? Because it incorporates the works, the literature, the photography, the history, the posters, the art, the films and video of ALL minorities and all struggles in the most dynamic of places–the Northeast and NY. And this is important, because if the history is lost, all that remain are half truths."
Michael Hardy, Esq.
“The Museum of Civil Rights the most important and exciting one. Why? Because it incorporates the works, the literature, the photography, the history, the posters, the art, the films and video of ALL minorities and all struggles in the most dynamic of places–the Northeast and NY. And this is important, because if the history is lost, all that remain are half truths."
Linda Stasi
Multiple award-winning newspaper columnist, TV co-host, author and novelist of eight books.
"The Museum of Civil Rights is the most important and exciting project in which I’ve ever been involved. Why? Because this museum will be a repository of the real history of all minorities involved in the struggle for equality and social justice in NYC and the entire Northeast—not just the victors. If we lose the physical history, all that will remain are half-truths, and distorted histories as told by those who never had boots on the ground."
Dr. Lilliam Barrios-Paoli
“The Museum of Civil Rights the most important and exciting one. Why? Because it incorporates the works, the literature, the photography, the history, the posters, the art, the films and video of ALL minorities and all struggles in the most dynamic of places–the Northeast and NY. And this is important, because if the history is lost, all that remain are half truths."
Allen Roskoff
Legendary gay rights activist, leader in the LGBT and social justice movements for over five decades.
Roskoff achieved many early victories for the LGBT movement, including co-authoring the nation’s first gay rights bill, organic zaps and made political alliances that changed lives in many fundamental ways.
"The Museum of Civil Rights is very personal to me. I want to be assured that our histories are preserved and valued. Little is more important than younger generations knowing what the fight for equality entailed in New York City and here in the entire Northeast. Young LGBTQ+ people need to know what it was like in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s and how what we achieved and gained can be short-lived and taken away. Younger people must understand that these rights must not be taken for granted. All of us who come from disenfranchised communities have had similar and at times different struggles and telling it in an inclusive presentation is vital. The people who lived the history must have a sanctuary in which the true history of the many movements are preserved. Our true stories must be told first hand or they will forever vanish."
Board of Trustees
The Reverend Al Sharpton, Co-Chair
The Honorable Jonathan Lippman, Co-Chair
Maurice Cox
Michael Hardy, Esq.
Linda Stasi
Dr. Lilliam Barrios-Paoli
Allen Roskoff
The great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do.
JAMES BALDWIN
Novelist, Playwright, Essayist, and Activist