The strength of resilience is felt at the new International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina.
The $120 million project, which opened this summer, is not a tourist attraction. The museum is built on a sacred, bruised ground: Gadsden’s Wharf, the arrival point of almost a portion of all African slaves sent to the United States.
“We were able to locate this definition of what a building had been. And we think it was one of the main warehouses,” said Malika Pryor, the museum’s director of learning and engagement. “We know that captured Africans, once taken to the dock, in many cases were kept in those warehouses waiting for their value to increase. “
Pryor guided CBS News nine galleries that hint at America’s original sin: the story of the Middle Pass, when more than 12 million slaves were shipped from Africa as human cargo. The exhibits speak of their anguish and despair.
“I think we want to be surprised,” he said.
The museum’s exhibits also pay homage to something else: the religion that will one day belong to their freedom.
“I hope other people feel other things,” said Tonya Matthews, the museum’s executive director and president. “You’re going to walk in this area and get involved, and what that means for you will be transformative. “. “
By design, it is not a museum about slavery, but a monument to freedom.
“It’s trauma,” Matthews said. But look at who the state is here now. This is what makes him happy and triumphant. “
Congressman James Clyburn, a veteran of South Carolina’s Congress, defended the allocation for more than 20 years. He says he sees it as an inherited assignment.
“All of this tells me a lot about the complexity of my past,” he said. “It’s fortunate to be the most important thing I’ve ever done. “