After going through the Birmingham museum, visitors are offered a chance to talk with volunteers – many of whom lived through the turbulent civil rights era in Birmingham – to help process their thoughts and feelings, Cooper said.
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Congress approved its creation in 2003, and construction of the bronze-coloured building took nearly four years.
President Obama spoke at the opening National Museum of African American History and Culture on Saturday.
Live musical performances included Stevie Wonder and Patti LaBelle.
“A museum alone will not alleviate poverty in every inner city”, he said, adding that ending racism and solving other problems facing the black community “is up to us”.
The president reminded the audience that Jim Crow and rampant racial discrimination have not always been erased from the national landscape.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is open to the public with same-day timed entry passes beginning Monday.
Created by an act of Congress in 2003, it’s the only national museum devoted exclusively to documenting the life, history and culture of blacks in the U.S. “Black and white and Latino and Native American and Asian American – see how our stories are bound together”, Obama said.
Besides first lady Michelle Obama, also attending the ceremony were former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush, Vice President Joe Biden, Dr. Jill Biden, former President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Paul Ryan.
“It’s like walking across the desert and finally getting to a fountain of water to quench your thirst”, said Verna Eggleston, 61, of Brooklyn, who toured the museum.
“This is the place to understand how protest and love of country don’t merely coexist, but inform each other”, he said.
President Barack Obama made remarks at the Smithsonian’s newest museum and then rang the bell with four generations of the Bonner family. “One of the goals of the museum is to humanize history, to give it to you on a first-person narrative, to give it to you on a human scale”, Bunch said.
“The majority of the exhibition space is underground”.
There are also many iconic items celebrating the achievements in sports, music, television and film including Michael Jackson’s fedora hat worn during his 1984 “Victory Tour”, boxer Muhammad Ali’s headgear, musician Chuck Berry’s Cadillac, baseball star Jackie Robinson’s bat, some of Olympian Gabby Douglas’ items as well as a statue honoring American athletes who held their hands up as a demonstration of solidarity during the 1968 Gold Medal ceremony.
Obama has joined in the excitement for the new attraction.
The $540 million building is a three-tiered, crown-inspired design that rises into the sky and disperses the sunlight through 3,600 bronze-colored panels reminiscent of 19 century ironwork created by New Orleans slaves.
Black history officially has a new, prominent place in America’s story.
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At night, the corona glows from the light within the building.
