Based on the 2018 version of the exhibit, Eight Days in April aims to reintroduce the 1968 Uprising in Kansas City without the biases against the black community found in the previous version. Anthony LaBat and Sandy Rodriguez, UMKC Libraries employees, headed the work of uncovering the biases through their case study which is included in the presentation The Thin White Line.
Eight Days in April recalls the events of the 1968 Uprising in Kansas City through photos, audio, and video found directly on the online exhibit and through links to additional sources.
This most recent iteration of the exhibit paints a picture by highlighting Kansas City’s past policies on segregation, and builds a timeline depicting the events leading up to and during the Uprising.
With this new exhibit, curators hope the 1968 Uprisings will be seen not as a moment in time but one piece of a story that continues today. The exhibit concludes, “The question is not ‘How far have we come?’ because that question negates the structural, institutional, and physical harm that continues to fester in our society.”
The exhibit can be found here.