8 destinations to celebrate black history month

A wreath marks where Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee. The location is now the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel. Alamy Stock Photo MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

A visit to Memphis isn’t complete without stopping at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel ($20 for adults; $18 for people 65 and older; free for active military). Another

essential stop is the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famed “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech the day before he was assassinated. Next,

stroll down Beale Street to hear the sounds of the city while sipping a brew from Memphis’ Black-owned microbrewery, Beale Street Brewing Co. If you prefer beans over brews, check out Dr.

Bean’s Coffee and Tea on South Main Street. A sculpture of Rosa Parks sits in the Rosa Parks Museum on the Troy University campus in Montgomery, Alabama. Ian Dagnall / Alamy Stock Photo

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA Alabama’s capital has a wealth of stops on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, thanks to the movement’s luminaries. Tourists can visit the steps of Alabama’s state Capitol,

where King spoke to 25,000 supporters after marching from Selma, Alabama, for voting rights. Off the Civil Rights Trail, Troy University’s Rosa Parks Museum ($7.50 for adults; $1 off for

military with current ID and AARP members with a current card) includes a historical marker where Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. The Legacy Museum 

interprets American history from African American enslavement to segregation and mass incarceration. It plans to open a sculpture park near the Alabama River in early 2024. One ticket ($5)

gets visitors into the Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the upcoming Freedom Monument Sculpture Park. The museum offers free shuttles to take visitors to all

three sites. The Contemplative Court is within the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

WASHINGTON, D.C. Since its opening in 2016, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture remains the quintessential destination to learn about African American

life, history and culture. Free timed-entrance passes are required; advanced reservations are encouraged. It takes at least two hours (and usually more) to tour the mile-long history

galleries. Wheelchairs, ramps and elevators are available. End the day with a meal at Georgia Brown’s on 15th Street Northwest for a taste of Low Country cuisine.