LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Despite the snow, it's one of the busiest days of the year for the Muhammad Ali Center. Admission is free for Martin Luther King Day, offering the opportunity to pass history down to the next generation.
After crunching through the snow with a gaggle of kids in tow, Deanna Lee led a YMCA field trip through the museum. At one of their first stops, they're in a small recreated diner with two stools. She explained only 60 years ago, the black and white girls in her group sitting at the counter wouldn't have been able to sit together.
"Martin Luther King fought for something," she said. "And to be able to see so many kids of diverse backgrounds to come together and be able to play and learn together, it just celebrates what he stood for."
In an auditorium, old clips of King Jr. next to Ali play alongside regular screenings of his "I Have a Dream" speech.
A panel of Louisville high schoolers discussed what the two civil rights figures would make of today. It's part of the Muhammad Ali Center Council of Students.
Gabriel Rollins has participated for three years, meeting with other students and building on Ali's legacy.
"And seeing how you as a person are so small," he said, reflecting on his time in the spirituality section of the museum dedicated to Ali's mystical perspective.
Even if we are small, Rollins said we're all capable of something bigger if we understand the past.
"When we look at our history, we see what we did wrong and we can improve on that," he said. "But when we don't see the history, we just keep making the same mistakes over and over."
Rollins also shared his thoughts on recent efforts in Kentucky's legislature to target diversity, equity and inclusion.
"It feels like those issues are not allowed to be talked about," he said. "It feels like what we went through isn't valid for schooling, and it hurts."
It's part of why he hopes to keep the history at the Ali Center alive.
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