LCI students tour National Museum of African American History and Culture

Students from the LCI Fairfax recently visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington.

It is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African-American life, history, and culture. It was established by Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African Americans.

Read what some students had to say about the field trip below.

The museum

I like to visit museum with group. Before yesterday, my friends and I went to National Museum of African American. It was so nice to be there and I learn a lot things about their history lives.

We were going by the metro and it was good time to have wonderful conversations. But suddenly, the time pass fast and we cannot see everything. It is a great Idea to visit an interesting museum with your friends.

— Taleb A Taleb

African American Museum

It was very big and beautiful museum. We had a trip to African American museum it was great day. First, we went to 4 floor we saw more thing. We saw clothes for famous people. For example, we saw Michael Jackson clothes. Second, we listened to old music. For example, we listened beat it song. We saw a hot for Pop Marley and we tacked picture with it. Then we saw car it has red color. And we saw stage for singing group. Third we saw some statues. Etch one of statue had long story. Then we went to art section. There are a lot of plates. They’re very beautiful. It was great and perfect day when we went to the museum.

— Bodoor Bawazir

My First Trip with LCI

My classmates, profesors, another students and I together go to American and African cultures museum, this is my first trip. There are a lot of culture things. They are very interesting. For example, first, there has one Michel Jackson's original clothes. I am his fan. Second, there are some arts and singing famous stars information, some used things.

When we trips together, i make new friends. I try to polite when see new friends. We told about museum and introduce yourself so it is very interesting, because we always use English. I never forget a first trip.

— Bazar-Uugan.M

National Museum of African American History and Culture, the museum is amazing , there are many to see and learn about African American history. The history within and the layout of the museum was fantastic . Everyone is interested to learning more about black American History . I learned a little about African American history . One of the famous African American is Shirley Chisholm, she was the first African American Woman elected to the house of Representatives . she was elected to the house of represented the state of New York. From the other side, we all had a very beautiful time and we enjoyed . We spend about 2 - 3 hours at the museum. I took photos of some antiques and post it on Instagram. The museum was organized and nice . We learned a little about history, slavery and African American Culture.

— Sarah Aldossary

Visiting The African American Museum

    Visiting the African American in Washington DC. It was as a very good experience, learning about history , language,  and designers. First the history of United States is one of both triumph and struggle. Americans won freedom, but those privileges did not extend to all.  Second enslaved black combined English with African vocabularies and ways of talking. They created a language to speak In their community. I also informed, many of the Americans are not aware that many of the words  speak and write are derived from African words. Third African American designers before 1970s had limited access to the main street fashion industry. They use to  produce them own dressmakers and tailors, By the 1970s they recognized to the talents of black designers. Finally my visit to the African American Museum was a good way and knowledge about the past, how they communicate using them own language and how they had to make them own clothes.

— Roxana Yoo

The Field Trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture  

On September 19, the Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute organized a field trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture for us. The museum was opened on September 24, 2016; almost a year ago, and it has been booked almost all the time since it was opened. When we arrived we recognized the museum by its well-designed structure, which was inspired by a statue in the Culture Gallery of the museum. We were really amazed by the huge amount of people who were waiting. We waited for almost half an hour just to get in even though we had our tickets. The security officers were really efficient and did their work swiftly. Then, we took off to explore the Culture Gallery, which had an enormous bottle tree that people from the south of the United States claimed catches the evil spirits around you. Then, we had the opportunity to improve our knowledge of the African Americans’ art styles and music.

Clearly, African-Americans faced many hardships regarding their rights and freedom in the United States; for instance, they were not allowed to be on TV shows. Thankfully, that has changed. After that, we went to see some African-American artworks like the painting “The Fulfillment” and “The Mothership”, which was really meticulous. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to cover the whole museum; however, I continued exploring it on my own because I knew how difficult it is to get a ticket due to the huge number of people who visit the museum regularly. I learned many things about the African-American culture and I had wanted to visit it since it was opened, so I am really glad that I visited it with the LCI.

— Mashari Alharbi

The Field trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture

We spent a wonderful morning together in the National Museum of African American History and Culture on September 19th. The weather was really nice yesterday, and all the VTLCI students were led by our professors to the museum by metro. This museum was built almost a year ago. Therefore, it is very popular among people who live around here.

After we got into the museum, we went to the 4th floor, and started our journey with a nice lady, who gave us many details while we were in the Culture Gallery. In the Culture Gallery, there are many different themes you can enjoy.  For me, I was attracted by the video played in a big screen that is around the lobby. It displayed many different faces. Some of them are singers, some of them are athletes, some of them are dancers. Different people have one characteristic in common: they are all very energetic. The video shows their passion for their lives and culture even though they were treated unfairly at that time in history. This spirit inspired me greatly, and drove me to know more about African American history and culture. Furthermore, the music and the language they created also impressed me. They tried to tell people things they wanted to say via music, which is the best way to share something around the whole world, I believe. Also, they created their unique pronunciation of English in many cases.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to visit all the galleries in the museum. There are too many things on display and activities to engage in while you are there. I really want to go again with my friend. This museum doesn’t just express the history of African Americans, but also sings a beautiful song about their spirit.

— May Xue