America's Black Holocaust Museum

America's Black Holocaust Museum located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the only memorial dedicated specifically to the victims of the enslavement of Africans in the United States. It was founded by James Cameron, America's last living survivor of a lynching.

The board of directors announced that the museum would be closed due to financial problems and that it would temporary. [http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=777777]

History

The museum was founded by James Cameron after he visited Yad VaShem in Israel. He thought that the focus on the personal history of individuals and their stories, rather than on numbers and processes lead to a better understanding of the reality of the Holocaust.

Mission

America’s Black Holocaust Museum (ABHM) exists to educate the public of injustices suffered by people of African American heritage, while providing visitors with an opportunity to rethink their assumptions about race and racism.

Educational focus

While there is also a Black Holocaust memorial in Savannah, Georgia, the ABHM serves as a center for education related to the Black Holocaust and as a non-threatening forum for sharing thoughts about race and racism in America.

Exposing visitors to historical aspects of African American cultural identity is achieved through educational exhibits, special programming, and guided tours related to six distinct historic eras:

*Before Captivity in Africa
*The Middle Passage
*Slavery in the Americas
*Reconstruction era of the United States
*Civil Rights
*Modern Day Injustices

ABHM welcomes visitors of all races and backgrounds, and encourages community understanding of the nation’s history of racism, prejudice, social change and cross-cultural understanding.

ee also

*List of museums focused on African Americans

External links

* [http://www.blackholocaustmuseum.org/ America's Black Holocaust Museum]

Notes