A Changing America 1968 and Beyond

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A Changing America 1968 and Beyond Exhibiton

A Changing America 1968 and Beyond is one of the exhibiton in The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). NMAAHC is located at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW on the National Mall. The four-level museum opened on Sept. 24, 2016, becoming the only national museum solely dedicated to the documentation of African American life, history and culture. This Smithsonian Institution museum is an architectural marvel that features numerous interactive exhibits.[1]

A Changing America explores contemporary black life through stories about the social, economic, political, and cultural experiences of African Americans. From the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. to the second election of Barack Obama, the coverage is broad. Large scale graphics and original artifacts lead visitors from the Black Arts Movement to Hip Hop, the Black Panthers to “Yes We Can," and Black is Beautiful to #BlackLivesMatter. [2]

History and Collection

This exhibition illustrates the impact of African Americans on life in the United States social, economic, political, and cultural from the death of Martin Luther King Jr. to the second election of President Barack Obama. Subjects include the Black Arts Movement, hip-hop, the Black Panthers, the rise of the black middle class and, more recently, the #BlackLivesMatter movement. This exhibition encompasses several sections focusing on the Black Power era of the 1960s and ’70s, Black Studies at universities, racial dynamics in cities and suburbs, and the changing role of the black middle class. The year 1968 is seen as a turning point in the modern struggle for freedom and equality with artifacts such as painted plywood panels from Resurrection City, a “Huey Newton, Minister of Defense” poster, and handmade banners from the 2008 presidential election.[3]

Resurrection City was part of the Martin Luther King Jr.-inspired Poor People’s Campaign. (Photo by Bonnie Berkowitz/The Washington Post)

The exhibition divides into two sides and organizes around a quote from labor and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph: “Freedom is never given, it is won.” To the left of the quote is the distant history of slavery and the Emancipation Proclamation, to the right is recent history, the March on Washington, such that visitors who were there will look to try to find their faces.[4]

Exhibition Experience

In this exhibition we can also experience and know the story of :

  1. The Black Power Era: The 1960s and ‘70s
  2. The Movement Marches On
  3. The Black Studies Movement and The Black Museum Movement
  4. Shifting Landscapes: Cities and Suburbs
  5. Decades of Paradox and Promise (1970-2015)[5]

Review

This afro pick is topped with a black fist, the symbol of the Black Power movement. (NMAAHC, gift of Elaine Nichols)

“It is a continuation of the black liberation movement. The black freedom struggle of which the modern civil rights movement was also a part. It’s not some foreign entity, it’s part and parcel of that movement,” (Bill Pretzer, the co-curated the exhibition)

The reviewer also think that The Black Power movement encouraged pride in the African-American community, as well as pride in the self and the physical appearance. The phrase “Black is Beautiful” is printed in large bold letters on the wall next to an equally bold image of a woman sporting an afro, an example of the developing “black aesthetic” born in this era.

“There was an idea that African-Americans needed to conform in terms of their appearance to standards of beauty that did not validate what many of them looked like. So black aesthetic, broadly speaking, was a way to value style, features, hair, clothing, things that African-Americans were making decisions about,” (Wilkinson, the curator)

External Link

More about the exhibiton here

Reference

  1. Discover rich and essential African American history at this free Smithsonian museum on the National Mall. Washington. Retrieved January 26, 2021
  2. A CHANGING AMERICA 1968 and BEYOND.Nmaahc.si.edu. Retrieved January 26, 2021
  3. A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond. Si.edu. Retrieved January 26, 2021
  4. Lonnae O'Neal Parker. Changing America’ exhibit explores America’s press for freedom for blacks. December 13, 2012. Washingtonpost. Retrieved January 26, 2021
  5. A CHANGING AMERICA 1968 and BEYOND.Nmaahc.si.edu. Retrieved January 26, 2021