Marches, megaphones, and messaging are activism’s most visible components in this day and age, but they’re certainly not the only way to get involved in changing one’s community for the better. The Museum of the City of New York’s (MCNY) newest permanent exhibit identifies the ingredients of a successful movement and highlights some bite-sized starting points for civic engagement for visitors at any stage.
Opening today, September 25, Raise Your Voice marks one of two inaugural exhibitions in MCNY’s new Puffin Foundation Center for New York City Activism — the culmination of a multimillion-dollar gift from the nonprofit devoted to uplifting minority artists and organizations. Curated by Sarah Seidman, Raise Your Voice emerges from the framework of its longstanding predecessor, Activist New York (2014–2026), which explored how the city’s population density, diversity, and class disparity were critical for hundreds of social and economic movements that yielded nationwide impacts.
Seidman, who was appointed as the curator of social activism at MCNY shortly after Activist New York opened, noted that the original display had rotating material and was the most-visited exhibition among school groups.
But as an update, Seidman said that Raise Your Voice and its place in the broader Puffin Foundation Center are more interactive and hands-on, “which really reflects the direction and top priorities of the museum.”
Raise Your Voice distills activism into five main components. “Demonstrations,” “Organizing,” “Arts & Media,” and “Direct Action” examine how frontline, behind-the-scenes, supplemental, and extrajudicial labor coalesce to advance social change, while a final section called “Your City, Your Move” equips visitors with tangible means of instituting change on a local level.
