The Smithsonian’s 19th and latest addition to its sprawling museum and research complex is the first national museum tasked with documenting the uncomfortable truths of the country’s systematic oppression of black people, while also honoring the integral role of African-American culture.
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The first of the Smithsonian Institution’s 19 museums to begin without a dedicated collection, most of museum’s almost 37,000 objects – about 3,000 of which are on display – come from individuals and families.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who is seeking to shore up support among black voters, has stumbled over the name of the new Washington museum on African American history.
“This place is more than a building, it is a dream come true”, Lewis said.
And to impatient black activists who have criticized not just law enforcement but the administration itself for failing to address racial disparities more swiftly, Obama pointed to veteran Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia.
Obama was joined by his predecessor George W. Bush, who signed the bill in 2003 to allow construction to proceed.
The trials and tribulations of the African American experience are told as well as the community’s contribution to life in the U.S. in exhibitions created to resonate with everyone.
Other displays at the $540 million museum include a slave cabin from SC, a robe used by boxing great Muhammad Ali and the coffin of Emmett Till, whose 1955 murder in MS helped galvanise the civil rights movement.
“When I reflect on the hardships and struggles of other people and my family, as well growing up, to now see this museum tell the story that it’s telling, it’s overwhelming”, Wright said. “For we, too, are American”.
“If we’ve done our job right, I trust the museum will be a place for all Americans to ponder, reflect, learn, rejoice, collaborate and ultimately draw sustenance and inspiration from the lessons of history”, Bunch said.
A century after it was first proposed, a museum devoted to centuries of African-American history opened Saturday on the National Mall. “And so this museum provides context for the debates of our times”. “It is a story of America”.
A separate section examines the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power era of the 1960s and 1970s and other activism remembering many activists, including Lewis and Dr. Martin Luther King.
Obama said, “A museum alone will not alleviate poverty in every inner city or every rural hamlet”.
The building, designed by British architect David Adjaye, sits on Washington’s National Mall, the BBC reported.
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To me, history is the foundation of a powerful legacy, and it is important to tell the stories of the millions of black men and women, boys and girls, who labored and sacrificed, and continue the struggle, to build this great nation.
