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Loving - The Movie. A beautiful portrayal of a forgotten civil rights story

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Ruth Negga (2 nd from right) stars as Mildred and Joel Edgerton (right) stars as Richard in Jeff Nichols LOVING, a Focus Features release. Credit : Ben Rothstein / Focus Features   Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving grew up in the rural unincorporated town of Central Point, Virginia. They met in high school, spent time together, and eventually, when Mildred became pregnant, decided to marry. But this was the 1950’s and Mildred was African American and Richard was white. Virginia had anti-miscegenation laws which made their marriage illegal. How did these two young people get beyond Jim Crow and fall in love? Well that had a lot to with Central Point VA. Central Point was and is still a very rural area. At a distance of about 90 miles south east from Washington DC it was community with a history of poor farmers, black and white, ignoring the rules of segregation, living together. According to a 2012 article in the Washington Post , Central Point and Caroline Count...

Two Museums Outside of Tucson Arizone

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Looking out at the Sonoran Desert   If you are visiting Tucson, Arizona, and you are looking for something to do outside of town, I have two suggestions. These museums are especially interesting if you children in your traveling group. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Photo via www.desertmuseum.org   About 2.3 miles east of the Red Hills Visitors Center in the Saguaro National Park is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum . Built in 1952, this museum explores the natural history of the Sonoran Desert and its adjacent ecosystems. Its founder, William H. Carr (1902-1985), had previously founded and designed the Bear Mountain Trailside Museum in New York State. Both have similar designs, using trails lined with native plants to take visitors on a tour of displays of local animals. Prairie Dog Ocelot Mountain Goat Okay, not at the zoo, but in front of a nearby trading post  The Desert Museum has two miles of walking trails along a hillside the overlooks the a desert valley. It is part...

Small Museums in Tucson Arizona

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Yeibichai Textile - Navajo   When visiting the city of Tucson, Arizona, you might want to find places to spend time away from the desert sun and heat. Luckily there are several museums you can visit with good art and great air conditioning. Today I will explore two of them. Tucson Desert Art Museum   A strip mall on the east side of Tucson may not be where you would expect to find an art museum, but you would be wrong. In 2013, James E. Conley (1943-2020) decided to take part of his extensive art collection and create a museum to share it with the public. He worked with Rhonda R. Smith to create the Tucson Desert Art Museum, using his collection of art, artifacts and textiles.   The Desert Art Museum has an amazing collection of Navajo and Hopi textiles, in a wide variety of styles and designs.   Navajo Late Classic Blanket Transitional Textile - Navajo Germantown Eyedazzler - Navajo Optical Pattern Saddle Blanket - Navajo Teec Nos Pos - Red Mesa Trading Post - Navaj...