The National Museum of African American History opens in Washington, DC

Global Business

The National Museum of African American History will officially open its doors in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 24.

African-Americans, once considered three-fifths of a person, will see their history displayed for visitors to come and understand Black America’s centuries- long struggle for human dignity.

CCTV America’s Jim Spellman reports.

The new National Museum of African American History and Culture chronicles dark chapters of U.S. history while celebrating the contributions African-Americans have made to society and culture.

The museum charts the African-American experience from the horrors of slavery to the struggles and triumphs of the civil rights movement.

Also, the museum highlights the important contributions black Americans have made to business, politics, pop culture and the world of sports.

In the music gallery, Chuck Berry’s Cadillac is parked alongside The Mothership which a stage prop from 1970’s funk pioneers Parliament- Funkadelic. Interactive exhibits track the rise of soul music and hip hop.

Johnetta Elzie is a student activist who has protested in the Black Lives Matter movement. She traveled to Washington for a sneak preview of the museum.

“I think it is amazing. It touches me on a spiritual level just to see exactly where we have come from and how far we have gotten and how far we still have to go,” she said.

She is moved that a country that once allowed blacks to be sold as slaves now has a museum dedicated to the African-American experience.

“The black experience is the quintessential American experience. So to see America through the eyes of black people is to see America for what it truly is. Good and bad,” she also said.