Celebrate Black History Month in SL

Part of the Sugarhill Retreat build, the Museum of African American Experience has mounted a wonderful exhibit just in time for Black History Month. The third floor features portraits of a variety of twentieth-century entertainers in music and in film. While expected faces are there, for example Motown artists from the 1960s and 1970s like the Supremes, Stevie Wonder and the Jackson Five, representing the commercial pop of those decades, visitors are also reminded of the many other artists and genres who have so deeply influenced American music and represented American identity and creativity around the world. The display recognizes R&B artists from the 1950s and 1960s such as Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson, and the Platters, jazz artists from the 1930s and 1940s such as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie, and blues artists such as B. B. King and Bobby Blue Bland. I was particularly pleased to also see other, more recent influential figures included as well, such as DJs Grandmaster Flash and Grand Wizard Theodore, recognizing the continuity of black creativity in the arts. Among the stage, film and television stars also being paid tribute are such major historical figures as Hattie McDaniel, Pearl Bailey, Flip Wilson, and Dorothy Dandridge, helping to make their faces known to a new generation. More contemporary milestones are also acknowledged, most importantly, the Oscar winners Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, and Forest Whitaker. The second floor of the museum introduces visitors to significant events in African American history, documenting them in photographs as well. One wall recognizes African American contributions to military history, including a profile of the Tuskegee Airmen, and portraits of Benjamin O. Davis, and photographs of WWII servicemen in action, as well as portraits of black astronauts. Another wall pays tribute to black sports achievements, with portraits and photographs of Olympic athletes including Jesse Owens, Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell, and champions of many different sports, such as gymnast Dominique Dawes, figure skater Debi Thomas, NHL players Willie O’Ree and Fred Braithwaite, and tennis players Althea Gibson, Arthur Ashe, and Venus and Serena Williams. A third wall features black political milestones and leaders, including photographs of members of the Black Panther Party from the 1960s and 1970s, as well as some recent portraits of those who survived the persecution of that era. Finally, the first floor also features a historical narrative of survival and resistance, documenting some recent developments in South Africa, and reaching back through the civil rights movement, Reconstruction, slavery and the Middle Passage. Black inventors and entrepreneurs such as Madam C.J. Walker, Elijah McCoy, Benjamin Banneker and others are also recognized. Much thanks are due to owner Will Wellman for providing a visually rich educational experience by creating this interesting space. It comes highly recommended when you want a place for a quiet and thoughtful conversation!