T-L Photo/JOSIE BURKHART Underground Railroad Museum Director Kristina Estle is ready to give her presentation about the civil rights movement on Feb. 22 to celebrate Black History Month.

FLUSHING — Area residents can celebrate Black history and learn about the civil rights movement at the Underground Railroad Museum’s Black History Month presentation.

Museum Director Kristina Estle prepared a lecture that she will present at noon Feb. 22 in the museum’s lecture room, located at 121 E. High St. in Flushing. She will speak about the civil rights movement to educate attendees about American history and celebrate Black history.

The public is welcome to attend for free, but donations are always welcomed by the museum. She doesn’t want to deprive anyone of this “impactful and powerful presentation,” but still appreciates donations.

“This history is so important,” Estle said. “We didn’t really learn about Black history in school, and that’s why I do what I do, because it’s so incredibly important. It explains so much. We can’t understand today’s issues without looking back throughout our history, American history.”

Estle said she tells everyone this is not just Black history, but American history.

“I think people need to realize that we need this more now than ever,” Estle said. “We need to stand up and advocate for the black population, all minorities. It is strongly needed at this time, and we need to do as much as we can to help them and be there for them and advocate for them.”

Estle said her goal with the presentation is to educate people because this history is hard to learn, and many people don’t understand what happened.

“I want to literally spell out for people what happened, why we are where we’re at,” she said.

She added that by educating people on these topics, they can have a better understanding and appreciation for the Black population, their history and culture.

She said people fear what they don’t understand, and this presentation is a way of combating that.

Estle said white attendees get emotional at times during such presentations because they feel guilty, even though they shouldn’t, and it’s information that can be difficult to absorb.

“By educating ourselves on Black history, again American history, we can foster an acceptance of one another and therefore knitting together a community, which is very, very much needed,” she said. “So many current events are going to divide this nation. We need to do the opposite. We need to work on coming together, learning about one another, our histories, our cultures. That unification of the community, of the nation, is so important right now, and that is what we should be working toward.”

The museum will be moving to a new location at the Black Horse Inn in Morristown next year, so Estle encourages community members to go to the museum at its current location and to set aside any reservations they may have about the organization.

“Come see what we do here,” Estle said. “Come listen to me talk for two hours. I promise it will not be a disappointment, and you’re going to be floored.

“It’s a great experience.”