america i am exhibit begins tomorrow

Is there a difference between the history of America and the history of African Americans?

Should there be?

The America I  Am exhibit, conceived by Tavis Smiley and brought to life with the help of African-American visionaries like author Toni Morrison and Dr. Cornel West arrives in Atlanta tomorrow, June 12 at the Atlanta Civic Center. The touring exhibit is billed as a celebration of the African-American ‘imprint’ on the history of America.

I have to be honest with you – as I typed that previous sentence, there’s a strange split feeling, a dichotomy in the wording that truly irks me.

African-American history is often seen as distinctly separate from other American history. When I think back to the American history classes I was required to take in elementary and high school, I can remember that there was a specific section (sometimes a few paragraphs, at most an entire chapter) dedicated to African-American history. It was disintegrated from the rest of the text, as if African-American history happened in a vaccuum somewhere while the rest of American history continued along undaunted and uninfluenced by it and vice-versa. The truth is that there are really two (or more) parallel American histories, both happening along the same timeline, both intersecting and cross-pollinating each other, both affected by many of the same technological and social evolutions, yet in distinctly different ways. With the exception of one humanities course I took in undergrad, I’ve yet to see the text or exhibit that approaches American history from this perspective.

I’ve not seen the America I Am exhibit yet, so I don’t know if this integration of African-American history with other American history will be on display there, but I’m hopeful that it will bring us one step closer to that ideal. If not, it will at least serve as a supplement for those of us who want more than a chapter’s-worth of information about the history of brown people in America.

America I Am will reside in Atlanta until September 6, 2009. Tickets are available for purchase online via Ticketmaster. Tickets are $12 for adults, $5 for children, and $8 for seniors. Discount tickets are available at participating Wal-Mart stores in Georgia.

Visit the America I Am website for more details.

cheers,

k