National
15 Years On, Museum Where Slaves Landed Taking Form
Bruce Smith, ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A tranquil spot on the Cooper River in Charleston is a place of memory, much like New York’s Ellis Island or Angel Island in San Francisco.
But those islands were beacons for millions who sought a better life in America. Gadsden’s Wharf which once stood on Charleston’s waterfront was where tens of thousands of African slaves brought against their wills first stepped foot in the United States.
For almost 15 years work has been underway on creating a museum to tell the story of those who arrived in chains – where they came from and what they did to help build America. Now the $75 million International African American Museum to be built on the site is more than a vision.
Last week, organizers had their first public meeting to discuss ideas for exhibits and displays. Later this month the first architectural renderings will be reviewed by city officials and, if all goes to plan, construction could begin next year with the museum opening in 2018.
In a nation where numerous museums tell the story of the black experience – indeed the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture opens in Washington next year – Charleston’s promises to be different.
“The extraordinary thing we have in Charleston is the authenticity of place – a place whose power has never been recognized,” says noted museum exhibit designer Ralph Appelbaum, whose work includes the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
“One would never know walking on this site that one might have once been hearing the cries or the laughter of people who lived on this site and were being held for sale,” he said.
The wharf was built by Revolutionary War leader Christopher Gadsden, also known for designing the yellow rattlesnake flag of the period with the legend “Don’t Tread on Me.” When the British left Charleston in 1783 after the end of the war, they embarked from Gadsden’s wharf.
One side of the planned 42,000-square-foot museum will have large windows looking out on the water which humans crossed from Africa in the holds of slave ships. That will be mirrored on the other side of the building with windows looking on Charleston, the first city slaves passed through as they began lives of servitude in the United States.
The museum plans, among other things, a family history center where, using touchscreen technology, visitors can do genealogical research and add their own stories to the database.
Exhibits will trace the journey of Africans from Africa to colonial South Carolina, through the Revolution and antebellum period to freedom after the Civil War. Other exhibits will tell the story of blacks during the Jim Crow era of segregation and the civil rights movement to the present day.
“What this is being driven by is the opportunity to create place of memory and remembrance on the actual site of the first footfall of 40 percent of enslaved Africans in America,” Appelbaum said.
Wilburn Johnson, the chairman of the museum board, says the story the museum will tell will not only resonate in the region “but also across this country and across the world.”
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024
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Barbara Lee
Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza
On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.
By California Black Media
On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12).
“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.
The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.
“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.
The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.
Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.
“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.
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