Here are some treats I didn’t get a chance to put into yesterday’s post.
In yesterday’s post, I mentioned in passing that a group of Neo-Nazis showed up to protest the museum opening. Well, here they are on the corner of Harms Road and Golf Road in Skokie
Nicole Cohen/Good for You
Musical entertainment was provided by Isreali violinist Miri Ben-Ari, also known as “the hip-hop violinist”. Here’s a video of one of the songs she performed.
The Soul Children of Chicago also performed at the opening ceremony.
Last but not least, it took me a while to realize I could record video on my dinky digital camera. I figured it out just in time, though, and managed to catch the end of Bill Clinton’s speech.
Thousands attended the museum opening despite the rainy conditions. Nicole Cohen/Good for You
Thousands gathered in Skokie on this rainy Sunday morning to celebrate the opening of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, which is expected to be one of the last Holocaust memorials to be built in collaboration with actual survivors.
The theme of the celebration can be summed up in the short motto displayed on the museum’s web Site, “Remember the past, transform the future.”
It’s a motto whose difficult execution was made painfully clear by the Neo-Nazi protest of the museum that took place just outside its new campus.
The event featured many speakers; some internationally known and others whose fame may not extend past their own communities. Each had something relevant to say about how a museum like this - one that is so closely tied to the past - can do much for our future.
Below is a review of what speakers like Bill Clinton, Elie Wiesel, and museum president Samuel Harris had to say. Read the rest of this entry »
Mulitple Chicago news sources have reported that four area mental health centers have been spared from the chopping block for now with the help of federal stimulus money.
