CCTV America’s Sean Callebs reports.
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“We are America”, Barack Obama, the first African-American US president, said at the National Museum of African-American History and Culture.
Also to be in attendance at the opening Saturday are former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush.
“It doesn’t gauze up some bygone era or avoid uncomfortable truths”, the president said in his weekly radio and internet talk, released before the opening of the museum.
“That block, I think, explains why this museum is so necessary, because that same object, re-framed, put in context, tells us so much more”. “Lewis echoed Butts in his speech, stating that “a$3 s long as there is a United States of America, there will be a National Museum of African American History and Culture” that will leave people “…deeply inspired, filled with a greater respect for the dignity and worth of every human being”.
“Perhaps it can help a white visitor understand the pain and anger of demonstrators in places like Ferguson (Missouri) and Charlotte”, said Obama.
The president ended his speech ringing a bell borrowed from the historic First Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Va., with 99-year-old Ruth Bonner, the daughter of Elijah Odom, a man born a slave in Mississippi. While only a limited number were able to access the sold-out museum on Saturday, the inauguration ceremony unfolded before 7,000 official guests and thousands more spectators, according to the Washington Post.
The museum was proposed as long as a century ago by black veterans of the Civil War. The civil rights icon said the bronze-colored museum “is more than a building, it is a dream come true”.
The church, believed to be among the first Baptist churches organized by black people, acquired its Freedom Bell in 1886.
People flew into the nation’s capital from around the country to attend the opening of the museum, with security lines lasting for more than an hour for some people trying to the dedication ceremony. It will return to the church for its 240th anniversary later this year.
Construction was completed earlier this year on the 400,000-sq-foot museum designed by British-Ghanaian architect David Adjaye.
The museum’s opening “finally marks the place and time where we’re finally recognized. and it’s about time”, said Shenise Foster of Alexandria, Virginia.
Millions of donors, both known and unknown, helped fund the museum.
Oprah, Will Smith Share African-American Journey in PoemsOprah Winfrey and Will Smith share the work of African-American poets during the dedication of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
“I am overwhelmed. I’m humbled”, said Deborah Elam, president of the GE Foundation and chief diversity officer for General Electric, as she waited Saturday among the dignitaries on the National Mall.
In 2003, Bush signed the law that allowed construction of the museum to move forward.
Samuel L. Jackson took a selfie with the museum in the background; Donna Brazile, the interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, strategized with Marc Morial, the CEO of the National Urban League; retired Gen. Colin Powell chatted amiably with Sen.
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“We want to make sure we reinforce the commitment to preserve African-American history”, said Glen Yonkers, Jr., a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, which was founded at Howard University in Washington. “One of fear but also of hope”, he said.
