Summer is the best time to take full advantage of the cultural offerings in your hometown, nation, or even internationally. The last article I shared with you, was my outing to New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art, focusing on the history of fashion in America.
A few weekends ago, I took a short trip to Washington, D.C., our nation's capital to visit the Capital building where the January 6, 2021, insurrection happened and stroll down the National Mall. The National Mall is the home of many museums, and most are free to the public.
For years, I wanted to visit the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) (https://nmaahc.si.edu/) that chronicles the African American experience from the shores of Africa, Transatlantic Slave Trade, Slavery in America, Freedom, Reconstruction, Segregation, Jim Crow, our contributions to the arts/music, the Civil Rights Movement, Black Lives Matter, to present day.
The museum was designed by "three prominent architects and their firms; Philip Freelon of The Freelon Group, David Adjaye of Adjaye Associates, and J. Max Bond Jr. of Davis Brody Bond, in partnership with the Smith Group." (https://nmaahc.si.edu/about/about-museum)
I would say it's a transformative, inspiring, and educational experience. Not only for Americans, but for any and every one to understand the seismic repercussions of slavery and colonization around the globe. Our forefathers and mothers left a lot of work and healing for us to do. That healing begins with knowledge, an apology for all the peoples and nations involved, forgiveness, and healing towards a better tomorrow.
Within this beautiful vessel of architecture is a treasure trove of history and stories that span centuries. It's a testament of our divinity and strength as a people and how we continue to be lifted no matter what traps or blocks are put in our paths. Take it from someone who has walked the halls of many museums and sacred sites around the world, this is a "must-see and -do" experience.
