Anti-Poverty Pop-Up Museum at the Freedom Center

The Anti-Poverty Pop-Up Museum (APPUM) is a self-guided, interactive experience that confronts poverty, not as an individual failure, but as a systemic injustice shaped by history, policy, and power.

Opening on Martin Luther King Jr. Day from noon - 5pm, APPUM is rooted in the vision of Dr. King’s Poor People’s Campaign, which named poverty as a moral and political crisis and called for collective action across lines of race and class. APPUM asks visitors to consider how that unfinished work shows up today and how mutual aid, collective care, and joy remain essential to liberation.

Through engaging displays, visitors will explore:

• The myths and realities of poverty
• The difference between charity and mutual aid
• The indigenous roots of mutual aid
• Why joy, rest, and creativity matter in movements for justice

Martin Luther King, Jr Day Zine Making

A featured space within APPUM, the Bread & Roses Gallery, invites visitors to engage more hands-on. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a facilitator will lead zine-making, offering a creative and accessible way to reflect, share stories, and imagine liberation beyond survival. This space honors the long tradition of art, creativity, and joy as forms of resistance within anti-poverty movements.

APPUM centers the lived experiences of people directly impacted by poverty and creates space not only for learning, but for connection, reflection, and collective imagination.

Accessibility & Language Access

• All displays are in English, Spanish, and Braille
• ASL interpreter available on MLK Day.
• Mobility-device accessible throughout

APPUM is presented by the Poverty Liberation Collective and is open to all who want to engage more deeply with the ongoing work of dignity, justice, shared care, and joy as a vital part of liberation.

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Host or Publisher Poverty Liberation Collective