Creative Discovery Museum condemns racism and intolerance in all its forms. Black lives matter and we stand with the Black children and families on our staff, our board and in our community today and every day.
Creative Discovery Museum was created as a community museum over 25 years ago with the vision to make Chattanooga the best place for a child to grow up. Our mission is to inspire all children to explore, innovate, create and play. And in order for us to accomplish our mission and vision, Black children and Black families must feel safe, respected and welcomed.
We strive to welcome children of all backgrounds and cultures to the Museum and increase their global awareness and cultural literacy through exhibits and programs. While we have worked over two decades to make sure the museum remains as accessible and equitable as possible for our visitors, staff and volunteers, we know we have more work to do.
CDM is committed to providing a safe space for all families to play and explore the world around them. We are committed to developing programs and experiences that further inclusivity, celebrate our differences and respond to our community’s needs. We are committed to developing a staff, board and audience that reflects the diversity of our community in every sense of the word. We are committed to using our resources and expertise to end systemic racism in our community.
Discussing race and racism with children is imperative to creating change. Children’s ideas about their own race and others’ races begin early in life. Research shows babies begin to notice differences related to race as early as 3-6 months and that children ages 2 to 4 start internalizing racial biases. Reading with our children helps their growing brains and choosing books with diverse characters helps promote tolerance and diversity as well as teach children about different cultures. There are also many great children books focused on fairness, activism and history. We want to empower you as a caregiver with the tools you may need to have these conversations. We have compiled a list of age appropriate resources that may be helpful when discussing these topics with your children.
Websites:
Books:
Babies to 3-year-olds
Ages 3-5
Ages 6-8
Ages 9 and up
Poetry Prompt
Erica Blackmon, an activist and poet from Chattanooga, guides you through a prompting moment for your family to think about what the word freedom means to you and those in our community. To watch that video, please click here.
