{"id":5455,"date":"2020-07-01T06:09:18","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T06:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heritagesalon.org\/?p=5455"},"modified":"2026-07-20T14:33:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:33:05","slug":"why-african-american-museums-are-important-in-the-midst-of-racial-unrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heritagesalon.org\/?p=5455","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Why African American museums are important in the midst of racial unrest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Jada Wright-Greene<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Charles H. Wright\u2019s traveling International Afro-American Museum, 1966. Courtesy of the Archives and Research Library of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I have been thinking and processing the issues that we are facing in our world. These issues are threaded and woven into the fabric of this world, things like hatred, bigotry, racism, and even COVID-19.  I began to ponder what is the role of Heritage Salon and the African American museums during this period of unrest.  Over the past few weeks, countless people have asked how can they educate themselves, or what can they do to learn more about black history and culture?  As the “African American Museum Activist,” the title that was given to me by one of my mentors in 2012, I felt the need to share the importance of support and the purpose of African American museums in a climate of inequities and injustices in our world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

African American museums were a result of the Black Power Movement. The deaths of leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X racialized Black America to become activists that promoted pride and self-reliance. This pride within the black culture and plight birthed the Black Power Movement. The Civil Rights Movement played an influential role in giving Black America a voice and place, but our voices continue to be muted and, we remained unwelcome in a country that has taken so much from us amid us giving so much to it.  African American museums are one of the cornerstones of the Black Power Movement. They preserve our history and share our stories through the lens of Black America. It shares the voice of those who came before us, in order to help us see ourselves through our eyes and not the eyes of mainstream media or whitewashed history books. A surge of African American museums began to open in major cities across the country. There are four museums that I call the \u201cFour Pillars of the Black Museum Movement.”  The four museums are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n