When we started to plan the exhibits we\u2019d have at Planet Word, we always knew that one gallery would be called \u201cWords Matter,\u201d a room where visitors would hear real people tell meaningful, memorable stories about how words had been important in their lives. How words had mattered to them. And we knew that gallery needed to come at the end of their visit to the museum, so they would take the message that words matter out into the wider world.<\/p>\n
We made a list of all the types of stories people might possibly tell: On the light side, maybe stories about secret languages between twins, about the silly expressions used by family members, about choosing a pet\u2019s name, about a nickname they adored or abhorred. Or on the serious side: about the difficulties non-native English speakers had when they came to America, about a tourist\u2019s experiences abroad when they didn\u2019t speak the language, about the hurdles people with speech impediments have to overcome, or about the experiences of people who\u2019ve had to endure the taunts of bullies or bigots.<\/p>\n
I was sure visitors would want to tell all kinds of word stories in the wake of a visit to Planet Word.<\/p>\n
Indeed I was so sure that our visitors \u2014 after going through the entire museum and thinking deeply about words in all different contexts \u2014 would want to tell their own word stories that we designed the entire Words Matter gallery around a recording booth where visitors could come in, record their story, and send a link to themselves for posterity or perhaps to share with family.<\/p>\n
And this was the essence of the Diller-Von Furstenberg Words Matter Gallery when it opened last October. Right away people started telling their stories and listening to those of others.<\/p>\n
But because of the increasing instances of hurtful words that have occurred during the last four years of the Trump administration \u2014 and are continuing now in the instance of hate speech directed at Asian Americans \u2014 it became obvious to us that Planet Word needed to take a stronger, more straightforward stance on words used to harm. Thus was born our exhibit, soon to be completed and installed, called \u201cWords that Wound.\u201d Responding to questions, visitors will be introduced to this volatile and, unfortunately, all-too-timely subject by exploring the concepts of slurs, intent and impact, what the First Amendment says about freedom of speech, and the relationship between hate speech and hate crimes.<\/p>\n
We hope that when visitors leave Planet Word after visiting the Words Matter gallery and the Words that Wound exhibit, they\u2019ll have gained heightened empathy for people of all cultures, ethnicities, races, and language backgrounds and will leave with a new understanding of how words matter. We recommend some simple actions (suggested by the Southern Poverty Law Center) for people to take when they hear hate speech:<\/p>\n
We think it\u2019s important to share those four strategies today, even before we reopen and have our new exhibit up and running, because we all need to do what we can to guard against the intolerable use of words to wound \u2014 words that can lead, as they have in the past, to hate crimes and deadly violence.<\/p>\n
As those instances are rising all around us, this is not the time for silence.<\/p>\n
We all must ask ourselves: How will we choose to use our words?<\/p>\n
\u2014Ann Friedman, founder, Planet Word<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When we started to plan the exhibits we\u2019d have at Planet Word, we always knew that one gallery would be called \u201cWords Matter,\u201d a room where visitors would hear real…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":3568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[63],"class_list":["post-3559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-founder","tag-power-of-words"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n