A crowd of over 50 Ferris alumni, local students and potential donors gathered at Wayne County Community College District last week to “overcome hateful things.”
As of last Thursday’s reception, Ferris’ own Jim Crow Museum was $8 million away from their $22 million goal for a new facility. Moving the traveling exhibit called “Overcoming Hateful Things” to WCCCD was an opportunity to educate, raise money and deepen Ferris’ connection with the east side of the state.
The exhibit moved to WCCCD on Feb. 5, commencing the first full week of Black History Month. It takes up two rooms of the WCCCD’s Curtis L. Ivery Downtown Campus. These rooms feature over 100 objects and eight interactive displays.
The artifacts depict racial stereotypes used against Black Americans during the Jim Crow period of the late 19th and early 20th century. Some are familiar to a modern audience, such as the female “mammy” stereotype recently removed from Pearl Milling’s Aunt Jemima pancake syrup.
Dr. David Pilgrim, Ferris’ Vice President for Diversity, Inclusion and Strategic Initiatives, is the founder and director of the Jim Crow Museum.
“I grew up with images seared in my brains of Black folks just living their lives like folks. Not the stereotypical caricature foolishness that’s been foisted on American psyche,” Pilgrim said.
He noted that the exhibit’s name was changed from “Hateful Things” to “Overcoming Hateful Things” to tell a wider story.
“[We] decided to add the word ‘overcoming’ to put the emphasis not on the objects, but on the resistance to the objects and what those objects represent,” Pilgrim said.
This resistance can be found in the words written all over the exhibit. These include the tagline “We are not Jim Crow,” lyrics from Nina Simone’s “Young, Gifted and Black” and notes written on an interactive display by museum- goers:
“Use your power. Vote.”
“I love me. Black + proud.”
“Do you know how strong we would be if we worked together?”
“We came so far, but yet we haven’t.”
Pilgrim plans to include this philosophy of resistance in the museum’s future location.
“One of the things I said to my team early on was when we build a new museum, which we will build, I want us to not just show push-back, African American achievement and African American activism,” Pilgrim said. “I want it to be showing black folks living their lives with dignity.”
Ferris’ president Dr. Bill Pink was one of the exhibits many viewers last Thursday.
“In the Jim Crow era, not only could I not be a doctor, I couldn’t be president. I couldn’t be anything close to what I am right now,” Pink said. “We have come a good distance. Young men and women who live desperate lives, I need them to see that as well. Because if they can see that someone whose skin is this dark can not only have that title of accomplishment of doctor, but can also lead a great university, they can see that they can do it as well.”
Pink began the reception with remarks on Ferris’ relationship with the city.
“In my mind, it didn’t make sense that the bulldog would not be seen very prominently in the city of Detroit,” Pink said to the audience. “We don’t put that bulldog just anywhere. Brutus doesn’t just follow because he wants to be somewhere. Brutus is here because the education is here.”
The president believes that Ferris’ presence in Detroit is lacking compared to other public universities across Michigan.
“Detroit and Southeast Michigan is the largest metropolitan area in the state of Michigan.” Pink said. “We ought to have our space in this community. We ought to have that space at a level that we’ve never had before. We have a lot of students that come from Detroit. That is awesome. But we’ve got to be able to not only keep that pipeline going, but be able to deliver to the city of Detroit that Ferris State education.”
According to Pink, students who graduate from WCCCD have a “smooth pathway” to completing a four-year degree in Big Rapids.
Tim Kay works as the managing director for project and development services at the JLL real estate company. He has worked with businesses in the Detroit area to increase funding for the Jim Crow Museum.
“Frankly, some of the organizations I’ve talked to and foundations and business leaders, they don’t fully understand it,” Kay said. “So the importance of having this here in Detroit, and me bringing them here, is going to really be helpful to understand and be inspired so then they can support it financially.”
Kay attributes this lack of understanding to the difficult history on display a the museum.
“It’s a story some people don’t want to get into but it’s important that we tell it. And it’s important that people understand it. Shockingly, a lot of people do not, including a lot of young people. So, I hope we have 1000s of visitors here and that this will inspire folks to get involved,” Kay said.
“Overcoming Hateful Things” will be on display in Detroit for weeks to come. For more information on the exhibit, visit the Jim Crow Museum’s website.
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