Our Mission

Imagine living in a world where most people perceive you as underachievers, lazy, parasites, and ne'er-do-wells. Then imagine that your world like this for generations. Your mother and father knew this world, and so did your grandparents and their parents.

Now imagine that, while people who are different from you speak proudly of the achievements of their ancient ancestors, you tend to shy away from speaking about yours, because you learned at a very early age that your ancient ancestors never achieved anything of note; never fought great battles; never conquered their neighbors; never created great art or music, or pondered the mysteries of the universe. Then, too, they never governed a city or town, let alone a nation or an empire. You were always told that your ancestors were little more than savages in their native land, and that is why they were enslaved and brought to the world that you now inhabit.

Well . . . welcome to the world of black children who live in Western societies. Welcome to a world of insecurity and low self esteem, of ambivalence and apathy. It is not a pretty world or a world peopled with kindly witches and wizards or fairy tale princesses and gallant knights. It is, as countless generations of African Americans have learned, a world that is dark, brutal and unforgiving.

By contrast, a white child growing up in the same society sees a much different world - a world of beauty and light and endless possibilities. Theirs is a world of enormous accomplishments, mostly stemming from a long history of European imperialism. The white child's world is, by all accounts, a privileged world, full of promise and hope and glorious precedence.

The Asian child growing up in that same society may not have the privileged worldview as the white child, but his or her world holds much more promise than the black child. For one thing, Asian children can at least boast of ancestral accomplishments that are on par with their white counterparts.

Yet, when you reexamine world history, as many black scholars have done over the years, you quickly learn that African history is not something to be ashamed of but, rather, something that should be embraced and treasured by all people, not just people of African ancestry. How refreshing to learn, for example, that black pharaohs ruled the ancient empires of Egypt and Kush long before the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks and Romans conquered that part of the world; that life in what is now known as the Middle East was once dominated by people named Nefertiti, Hatshepsut, Amenhotep III, Piye, Taharqa, Makeda, and Amanirenas - all of them African kings and queens.

How many knew, for example, that Roman governor Gaius Petronius referred to a Kush queen, Amanirenas when he wrote of the "One Eyed Candace" who lost an eye in battle fighting Augustus Caesar's 10,000-strong army to a standstill in 24 BCE? This was the same Roman army that occupied Jerusalem a few years later and carried out the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; the same Augustus Caesar who defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra. How empowering for black children to learn that this man had to sign a peace treaty with a black woman who led her nation in battle against the most powerful army in the world! There are numerous examples of this type of the marginalization of African people.

Just as Greek Americans, Italian Americans, British, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese and others can read about the achievements of their ancient ancestors in textbooks and see artifacts in libraries and museums, so should African Americans.

The need for a Museum Africa should be obvious at this juncture. Should we allow another generation of black children to go on believing that their ancestors accomplished nothing of note? Do we in the Western world have a responsibility-an obligation-to correct the record on African history? We at Museum Africa say yes, emphatically yes! If you feel the same way, then please help us by contributing to our Museum Africa Capital Campaign.