Forgotten Images, a traveling archival exhibit featuring several different artifacts important to Black history, visited PCC on Feb. 16 in one of several events held across LBCC campuses to celebrate Black Heritage Month.
The exhibit showcased the culture of the African Diaspora. Items collected from harrowing eras illustrate explicit racism, segregation, and the protests that ensued to combat these injustices.
Owner David McLucas travels to different states for weeks at a time collecting these artifacts and bringing them back to Long Beach. There are over 20,000 items in the collection with 40 different themes represented, all from significant periods in Black history. Some of the items date back as far as the 1600s.
The items in Forgotten Images leave an indelible mark on the viewer. A hooded robe, worn by a member of the Ku Klux Klan, looms over a rope used for lynching on a table scattered with confederate memorabilia. An iron collar complete with chains used to enslave Black individuals sits heavily on a stand.
Further down, a cookie jar depicting Rosa Parks is surrounded by signs declaring the segregation laws at that time. Drinking fountains that were initially installed to separate races from using them now sit among the collection as a reminder of the injustices.
Across the way stands a cut-out of Martin Luther King Jr., next to a protest poster from one of his marches. “Some of this happened not too long ago. It is important to preserve these parts of Black history, so young people can see it,” said Lisa Roper, a counselor at LBCC.
The theme of LBCC’s Black Heritage month, “Black Resistance” was expressed in the other half of the exhibit, displaying items that catalog the history of the Black Panther movement.
Original artifacts such as paintings, drawings, and magazines were also on display. Some of the works were signed by the activists that created them.
A section dedicated to Black Lives Matter drew people into the exhibit. A table was set up with portraits in remembrance of victims who lost their lives during this period.
Notably, this exhibit does not include traditional museum placards, typically expected in such a place. This is done intentionally, leaving McLucas to walk visitors through the exhibit, and personally explain each artifact’s history to visitors.
“If you went to a regular exhibit, you wouldn’t see the items that we have and have a personal experience. Plus, I am the storyteller, I tell the story behind each object,” said McLucas.
The experience leaves visitors with a much deeper understanding of the weight these artifacts hold, even allowing visitors to literally feel the weight in their hands.
“We’re truth seekers, meaning we want our people to experience the real thing. We allow the visitors to handle, hold, and experience the artifacts,” said McLucas.
Following the exhibit was an inviting reception. The dean of student affairs, Alisia Kirkwood explained that “We wanted to bring together the community to take in history, then offer time to fellowship afterward.”
The LBCC community mingled over refreshments and food, while faculty members including superintendent-president Mike Muñoz, offered reflections on the emotional experience of the exhibit.
Forgotten Images continues to travel to new locations throughout Long Beach. It will be on display again at LBCC at the Liberal Arts Campus on March 2nd, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. in the Nordic lounge located in the E Building.
A Rosa Parks cookie jar sits between a segregation sign and a doll made in her image. (Lauren Benson) 
A table of portraits memorializing the deaths of individuals occurring throughout the Black Lives Matter movement. (Lauren Benson) 
Black Panther members who died for the cause are featured on poster. (Lauren Benson) 
A thick rope that was used for lynching Black individuals, displayed above a stark archive of confederate memorabilia. (Lauren Benson)
More information about the exhibit can be found online at www.forgettenimages.net