I forgot how close the NMAAHC was to the Washington Memorial. Its architecture and layout are so powerful, starting chronologically on the 3rd & lowest underground level and working your way up (literally) to today.
*Spoiler*: Coming out of the dark, narrow, and winding corridors of pre-1776 slavery into this massive golden text was such an awesome design.
The infographics are incredibly informative! I at least take our current racial definitions for granted but these graphics show how they’ve twisted and turned over the years, usually based on legal definitions, to suit some political purpose or another and just get reified through enforcement and repetition.
A hand-printed, portable copy of the Emancipation Proclamation showing just how powerful it was and how people got creative to share it.
The other bright spot of #APS25DC was getting to visit the mind-blowing & powerful National Museum of African American History & Culture. It seemed timely and I hadn’t been!
They do an amazing job highlighting how much of the US was built by slaves & how our current ideas of race developed. 💯