The African American Museum and DC’s history – Ian T. and Charity H.
What makes me a part of chocolate city?
In 1957 D.C. became the first large city in the United States to be majority Black, earning it the moniker “Chocolate City.” (The Washington Post’s 2016).During this time African Americans living in Washington D.C., thrived in their communities. It was normal to hear Jazz,Gogo, and Blues music blasting on every block. Today, we can identify prominent musicians like Chuck Brown as well as Taraji P. Henson as contributors to what makes D.C. so unique. I recently had the pleasure of visiting the African American Museum but beforehand I had to acquire a visitors pass online. Built on September 24, 2016, The African American Museum was monumental for Washingtonians because according to a Washington Post article published in 2016 “it took 100 years” for this dream to become an actuality. During this time African American people thrived on their music, background, history, food, and influence.
The music that lived here was heart and soul, jazz, Gogo, and the blues. Some famous Gogo artist are Chuck Brown, Backyard Band, and Rare Essence who seasoned the air and streets. Soulfood; fried chicken and mumbo sauce, greens, pizza, carry out, and seafood are all foods featured on the plates of the people who lived and are praised here. Important people like Marion Barry of Mayor and SYEP, Taraji P. Henson of Barry Farms and Howard, P.Diddy of Howard , First Lady Michelle Obama , Marvin Gaye, Ryan Zimmerman, and Kevin Durant are all residents and/or natives of Washington, DC who have glowed and grown the community from the neighborhoods, to th capital, to other territories nationwide. These great people in the city are not just apart of heritage and culture locally but flourished the culture to the public so that capital city would be better example for the entire country.
The African American Museum was built on September 24, 2016. The opening of the museum was important to African Americans across the country and African Americans in the city. According to the Washington Post, “It took over 100 years for the African American Museum to become a reality” says (The Washington Post 2016) meaning that it was built by the hard work of black people having taken 100 years to become a monumental museum and showcase, bringing a sense of pride to the community with feelings of victory because they were able to have their hard work exhibited. Furthermore, some visitors say, “It’s great that the museum mixes everything together: it means you can’t just select a comfortable version of history. At the same time, you’re given some warnings,” says Holland Cotter of The New York Times (Curbed Washington DC 2016), “this defines the blend of culture and history while also informing the development of new life.
In the Museum, displays like Open Our Future are there to celebrate activism in the black community for slavery abolishment and DC civil rights. Olympian culture is the top and trophy which is rooted by community sports and the play field where many African Americans started their rookie career before becoming and entering the big league. Also featured in the African American Museum, The Divine 9 is celebrated and recognized which is very important to Washington,DC because many were founded at Washington, DC’s Howard University. The city is all about movement, with representation of arts and monuments, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X are two important civil rights activists in D.C. for the government and the community because they fought for civil rights with dreams of eliminating discrimination and encouraging the melting pot.=
Sources Used:
https://www.washingtonpost.com
https://dc.curbed.com/2016/9/16/12941752/museum-african-american-nmaahc-review
