Ask any Mississippian and they will tell you that living in the South is the only place to be.

Even though we may rank in the bottom of many lists about good things, and top of lists about negative aspects of life, here in the South we have a lot to be proud of.

You won’t find better food anywhere else in the country, or the world for that matter. When it comes to recreational activities, you’re only bound by your imagination, and sometimes the water level of the river.  And when it comes to friends and family, we take care of our own.  But there is a storied history as to how we got here, and not just in the South.

Our nation as a whole can’t say that every act and decision made was done with everyone’s best interest in mind.  To forget that fact would be a great disservice to those who came before us. That’s why museums sharing these stories with our young people are important. This weekend two such museums are set to open their doors in Jackson. One, entitled the “Museum of Mississippi History,” covers the largest timeframe of this region of the world, going back 15,000 years. The second will focus on a shorter timeframe, from 1945 to 1976. It is entitled the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

Both are in the final stages of preparations, and are expected to open their doors officially on Saturday. Visiting both of these museums will be easy because they are both housed under the same roof.  In school, history books did their best to tell the story of how our nation came to be, and how the stories of the South shaped our past, present and future. But books can’t hold a candle to the impact a museum display can have. By sharing these stories with our youth, we better ensure that we continue to step forward towards equality, rather than backward.