Witness to History
As you might have heard, on Thursday we broadcast live from the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History in Detroit, MI. (If you haven't listened to it, at least go back and listen to the inimitable Martha Reeves -- an amazing segment. What a performer.) But the highlight of the trip for me was the museum itself. I'm shocked that I haven't heard more about it -- their permanent exhibit, "And Still We Rise," is easily one of the most moving experiences I've ever had, in or out of a museum. It's literally like walking through history. Each room of of the exhibit contains a series of wax figures in various tableaux, starting in ancient Africa, and ending up in present day Detroit; almost 3.5 million years of history. The twenty-two galleries are multi-leveled, interactive, and completed in stunning detail. Walking from the ancient civilization of Benin, through the "belly of the beast" (a slave ship in the Middle Passage), all the way to the studios of Motown gives new meaning to the term "witness to history." Each room is complete with sound -- on the ship there is moaning, and in a movie theatre you can see and hear Josephine Baker -- and the level of craft on each room is just amazing. There are a lot of reasons to see Detroit -- from the gorgeous Art Deco buildings, to the ballpark, to Hitsville -- but if you go, make the museum a good part of your day there. While we can never walk in someone else's shoes, inspecting their journey in living and compassionate detail is the next best thing.
9:29 AM ET | 07-30-2007 | permalink
