(Cheriss May/HUNS)
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of people gathered at an inaugural event for
the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and
Culture Monday night here to celebrate the completion of the museum’s
exterior in a year that marks three significant moments in American
history.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and
the ratification of the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery, as well
as the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act—events that greatly
shifted the trajectory of African Americans.
The museum’s founding director, Lonnie Bunch, launched the night of
celebration, which included music, a dramatic visual arts display,
remembrances and congratulations.
“Tonight we commemorate the meaning of freedom, a term that was never abstract to African Americans,” Bunch said.
African Americans’ triumphs through centuries of harsh discrimination
were honored and remembered during the celebration, including the
premiere of a seven-minute projection depicting over 150 years of
African American progress, from Harriet Tubman to the Black Lives Matter
movement.
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