Charleston Regional Business Journal - Nov. 25 - International African American Museum Section

November 25-December 8, 2019

SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

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Across Time and Water International African American Museum begins journey to reconnect cities and people

Cadet Tatayana Green from Charleston, a 19-year-old freshman at The Citadel, served as the flag bearer during the groundbreaking for the International African American Museum. (Photo/Kim McManus)

SPONSORED BY:

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SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

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November 25-December 8, 2019

About this project O

ver centuries, Charleston’s story has been one of resilience. Through earthquakes, hurricanes, wars — civil and revolutionary — recessions, depressions and fires, the Holy City always returned, typically stronger than it was before. But that story has never included everyone’s story of resilience.

Charleston’s buildings and businesses were constructed, in large part, on the backs of enslaved people, and the city told a story of itself that wasn’t wholly true, that wasn’t nearly complete. That story often ignored the blood and the tears of the people whose Charleston story unjustly began on Gadsden’s Wharf.

The groundbreaking for this museum is a powerful symbol, not of a new

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ne day, not long from now, residents here in the Lowcountry won’t remember a time when we didn’t have the International African American Museum. The building will be like the U.S.S. Yorktown or the Ravenel Bridge, like the pineapple fountain or cargo ships — an iconic element of Charleston’s waterfront.

But for so long, for so many people, this museum was notably missing. This space marked a painful absence.

When my colleagues and I at Blackbaud learned that we could play a small role in changing that reality, we didn’t see it as a call to action for a donation but rather an incomparable opportunity to help preserve history, fill a profound void, and make an indelible mark not only on our community, but around the world.

As the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good, we’re especially excited by the potential for this museum to build connections beyond Charleston — to create exhibits without walls, where technology offers each of us admission, regardless of location and without limitation.

What an incredible tribute to the lives and families forever changed. What a way to transform these grounds into a place of promise.

Cheers!

Mike Gianoni Chief Executive Officer, Blackbaud International African American Museum Board Member

chapter in the story, but of a moment in time. This is our time in this place. It’s our time to come together as a community and a nation, to examine the past, to understand, to heal.

The support of businesses and community leaders in telling this story through this powerful symbol, a museum at the place where people traveled into America and into a life of pain, oppression, perseverance and courage, is not only gratifying, but also a legacy that adds these voices to the story of what it means to be an American.

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he International African American Museum (IAAM) is a dream nearly 20 years in the making, a vision soon to be made reality by individuals who understand that all people deserve a voice. By fully and completely illuminating the history of African Americans, the IAAM will facilitate understanding and dialogue that is essential if we are to build unity across all races and ethnicities.

Boeing supports the IAAM because we believe in the power of diversity and inclusion to positively impact communities and business alike. Diversity and inclusion are a part of our values at the highest level.

We all have our own stories and experiences that make us who we are, and endow us with unique talents and perspectives. Those stories, experiences, talents and perspectives weave a complex and beautiful tapestry of capability when embraced and given the opportunity to thrive.

Before we can fully engage the potential of diversity and inclusion, we have to embrace those unique stories and experiences. Boeing is proud to support the IAAM, and we are excited to be a part of a project that will have a transformative effect on diversity and inclusion in our community and our nation. We salute those who have worked so hard to bring this vision to reality, and congratulate the IAAM leaders, board of directors and national advisory board on reaching this groundbreaking milestone.

Boeing South Carolina team

— Charleston Regional Business Journal

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Greetings from Dominion Energy, t has been an honor for Dominion Energy to support the International African American Museum.

Reflecting on the announcement of our gift to IAAM in June, when some of our linemen and gas journeymen joined me on stage, it was indeed a proud moment. In fact, it was one of the largest single donations to a nonprofit cause in the company’s history.

Dominion Energy’s relationship with IAAM is a natural fit, as it aligns perfectly with our areas of focus for community giving — which include education and community vitality — as well as our commitment to diversity and inclusion. It reflects Dominion Energy’s commitment to the people of South Carolina.

While at the groundbreaking ceremony in October with a few other representatives of the Dominion Energy team, we all shared an immense sense of pride. We are looking forward to welcoming everyone to the museum and to the “South Carolina: Power of Place gallery.” One of the museum’s most hands-on, interactive galleries, the exhibit will feature a Heritage Map — an interactive multimedia table featuring a large-scale map of South Carolina. Visitors can use the touch-screen installation to engage with the state’s history through highlighted people, events, sites, themes and landscapes — illustrating the power of place and of African American experiences.

We are excited that the IAAM will provide invaluable learning opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds. We are pleased to support this uniquely rich learning and cultural environment that features technologydriven, engaging experiences that can be enjoyed by many locally, as well as visitors from across the country and around the world.

Sincerely, Rodney Blevins President and CEO, Southeast Energy Group Dominion Energy

November 25-December 8, 2019

SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

Uncover their stories.

Honor their legacy.

Discover the past.

Shape the future.

Blackbaud congratulates the visionaries and leaders of the International African American Museum for breaking ground!

This milestone event represents the beginning of a global transformation in understanding the economic, political, and cultural impact of the African American community. It marks the beginning of personal discovery and communal honor for our African American ancestors, as well as change that can only come through deeper knowledge and understanding.

The International African American Museum will provide groundbreaking research to inform and connect us all, and Blackbaud is committed to helping ensure it can reach everyone, everywhere.

By helping fund and shape the Museum’s Center for Family History, we are proud that our investment and technology will allow visitors near and far—locally and globally through digital access— to trace their family origins and connect their personal histories to the larger narrative.

On behalf of Blackbaud CEO and IAAM Board Member Mike Gianoni and everyone at Blackbaud, we thank you for making the International African American Museum a reality.

We humbly share our time, technology, and hearts with the project and eagerly anticipate helping bring the Museum—and African American history—to life in Charleston and around the world.

www.blackbaud.com

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SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

November 25-December 8, 2019

Lucille Whipper (from left) and IAAM Board Chairman Wilbur E. Johnson share a moment after ground is turned to mark the next milestone in the construction of the International African American Museum. They were joined

by Syasia Coaxum, a Burke High School senior; U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn; former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley; Rep. Joe Cunningham; and Freetown, Sierra Leone, Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr. (Photo/Kim McManus)

Museum to tell the African American story

By Shamira McCray

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smccray@scbiznews.com

lijah Heyward III, COO of the International African American Museum, said there are countless untold stories of what African Americans have contributed to the community and nation. He said the goal of the museum will be to raise awareness about the African American experience in Charleston and beyond.

The museum, to be built on the former site of Gadsden’s Wharf in Charleston, is expected to open in late 2021. Ships from Africa typically landed at Gadsden’s Wharf packed with captives who had endured the horrific ride to America where, if they survived, they would ultimately be sold as slaves.

Heyward said the museum will tell American history through the lens of Charleston. He said one goal is to tell the story of the African American journey that started in Africa with pioneers in intellectual and technological advances.

The journey was not by choice, but it has influenced the world, Heyward said.

“So I think it’s important for us to tell a comprehensive story of the African American experience, one that has really had a global impact,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham said the museum’s groundbreaking ceremony last month was a milestone that took 20 years to reach.

“On this sacred ground, we will hold a mirror up to the horror and the cruelty that they (enslaved West Africans) faced,” Cunningham said. “We will highlight the foundational role they played in building this great country. From the very bricks of the United States Capitol where I have the privilege to work to the economy that brought immense riches and wealth to the South.”

The problems that the nation is facing make it clear that there is still a great deal of pain that needs to be healed, Cunningham said, and there is a great amount of work left to be done.

“And building this museum here will not cure all the problems, but the stories that this building will tell, the truth that it will force us to confront, the connections that it will foster — well, those will cer-

tainly help,” Cunningham said.

Heyward said the museum’s staff has received positive and constructive feedback about the museum. And as it is a public institution, he said he welcomes the discourse.

Robert Ross, a local storyteller and member of The Gullah Society, warned against the museum’s presenting history solely through the lens of enslavement.

“Unfortunately, the museum’s efforts are built upon a basic untruth that African American history begins with enslavement, when science and common sense have proven that hundreds of thousands of years of African history and cultural achievement — including in the Americas — preceded the trans-Atlantic slave trade,” Ross said.

Ross is a member of the Citizens Want Excellence organization, a group that has expressed concerns about the narrative that the International African American Museum will share.

In addition to having the building redesigned to reflect specific elements of African and African American culture, Ross said he would like to see the

museum commit to a narrative that does not trivialize or minimize African culture, and also does not ignore the full extent of the suffering of Africans and African Americans through continued systemic white supremacy.

While this is one vision some have for the International African American Museum, the museum’s interim president and CEO, Bernard Powers Jr., said the museum is taking an approach that uses S.C. history as a springboard to explore other aspects of the black Atlantic and Caribbean. And black S.C. history is fundamental.

The museum has worked with professional planners, historians and humanities specialists to guide what they are doing. Powers said the full experience of African people can never be told in a limited space of a museum.

“Yes, it’s the International African American Museum, but that doesn’t mean that there’s any effort of pretense to try to cover the whole history,” Powers said. “International really has to do with See STORY, Page 25

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SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

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SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

November 25-December 8, 2019

IAAM will open new windows of remembrance and inclusion The International African American Museum (IAAM) is a dream nearly 20 years in the making, a vision soon to be made reality by individuals who understand that all people deserve a voice. By fully and completely illuminating the history of African Americans, the IAAM will facilitate understanding and dialogue that is essential if we are to build unity across all races and ethnicities.

“Boeing is committed to supporting and giving back to the communities where our employees live and work,” said Tim Keating, Boeing’s Executive Vice President of Government Operations. “Through our investment in this important museum of African American history and identity, we at Boeing hope to play a key

role in helping tell the story of the largely overlooked history of African Americans in our nation.”

Boeing supports the IAAM because we believe in the power of diversity and inclusion to positively impact communities and business alike. Diversity and inclusion are a part of our values at the highest level.

We all have our own stories and experiences that make us who we are, and endow us with unique talents and perspectives. Those stories, experiences, talents and perspectives weave a complex and beautiful tapestry of capability when embraced and given the opportunity to thrive.

Before we can fully engage the potential of diversity and inclusion, we have

to embrace those unique stories and experiences.

The IAAM will illuminate the story of the journey of enslaved Africans who were taken from West Africa, entered North America here in Charleston, endured hardship and cruelty, and then contributed so significantly to the greatness of America.

The museum will honor the site where enslaved Africans arrived and thousands died, tell important narratives that have been overlooked in most history books, and promote compassion and empathy across all races and ethnicities.

Though much of that history is difficult and painful, meaningful growth and unity can only come from fully recognizing and understanding that history and how it

shapes our community and our nation. Because understanding breeds respect and belonging, Boeing provides a work environment for all teammates that is welcoming, respectful and engaging, with opportunities for personal and professional development.

Boeing is proud to support the IAAM, and we are excited to be a part of a project that will have a transformative effect on diversity and inclusion. We salute those who have worked so hard to bring this vision to reality, and congratulate the IAAM leaders, board of directors and national advisory board on reaching this groundbreaking milestone.

WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER, WE CREATE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL. Boeing is proud to support the International African American Museum, and its mission to unite communities through education and understanding. Together, with awareness and inclusion, we weave a beautiful tapestry of potential.

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November 25-December 8, 2019

SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

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Michael Boulware Moore, who led the early fundraising and planning for the International African American Museum as CEO, talks before the groundbreaking ceremony near the former site of Gadsden’s Wharf, where thousands of enslaved Africans entered America. (Photos/Kim McManus)

Former CEO says IAAM could move country forward

By Shamira McCray smccray@scbiznews.com

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ichael Boulware Moore said he thinks about lots of ways the International African American Museum can impact people in a positive way. One is by ensuring the history is correct, with greater integrity regarding what is considered the American story and African American history.

Moore became the museum’s first CEO in 2016. He resigned this summer to return to the private sector. He said his intention was to oversee the early planning and fundraising to bring the museum to life and he is proud to have done that.

Moore paraphrased Winston Churchill to characterize the potential impact of the museum: “The farther you can look back, the farther ahead you can see.”

“To me, it speaks to the power that history plays in driving contemporary narratives that influence perceptions, beliefs, behaviors,” Moore said. “And for black folks, traditionally, that narrative can have life or death consequences.”

The nation had to create a specific narrative to allow it to enslave Africans, Moore said — that the enslaved people were wild, dangerous beasts.

“And while slavery certainly was a long

Michael Boulware Moore said he hopes the legacy of the museum will be to change how individuals see and tell the story of African Americans.

time ago, because we never as a nation dealt directly with this history, we have no choice but to live with the aftershocks of that narrative,” Moore said.

In a speech last month at the groundbreaking ceremony for the International African American Museum overlooking Charleston Harbor, Moore described recent occurrences as some of those aftershocks.

“It’s why you can be an African American 12-year-old playing on a playground

somewhere, or you can be in the privacy of your own home eating ice cream or babysitting your nephew and pose such a mortal threat that your life is taken from you just like that,” Moore said. “That, while mass murderers are taken to Burger King.”

In 2014, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was fatally shot by a Cleveland police officer outside of a recreation center. Four years later, Botham Jean, 26, was shot and killed in his apartment by a former Dallas police

officer who said she had mistaken his home for her own.

And just last month, Atatiana Jefferson was shot to death by police in her Fort Worth, Texas, home while babysitting her nephew. All three victims were African American.

Following the mass murder of nine in 2015 at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, it was reported that police officers bought shooter Dylann Roof, who is white, food from Burger King after he was captured in North Carolina.

Still, Moore said he is excited about the opportunity the museum will have to inspire and uplift people, and particularly young African Americans who may have never been in a place where they see stories of great achievement about people who look like them. He said that by seeing that, hopefully, the experience will allow them to see the greatness within themselves.

Moore said he feels privileged that the International African American Museum will rise on the site that was the epicenter of the transatlantic slave trade and have a chance to reach back and present history in a way that he believes will move the country forward.

CRBJ

Reach staff writer Shamira McCray at 843-8493119 or @Shamiratweets on Twitter.

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SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

November 25-December 8, 2019

Student and adult performers provided music before and during the groundbreaking for the International African American Museum.

Dancers in traditional dress took the stage and members of a community choir sang Lift Every Voice and Sing during the groundbreaking for the museum along Charleston’s waterfront. The $92 million project is expected to open in 2021.

Photos by Kim McManus

IAAM board member and former S.C. Rep. Lucille Whipper talks about the museum’s impact during the groundbreaking in Charleston.

Community members and public officials gathered outside the Charleston Maritime Center along the Cooper River for music, poetry, dancing, speeches and the groundbreaking for the International African American Museum.

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SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

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Bernard E. Powers Jr., interim CEO of the International African American Museum, greets attendees for the groundbreaking overlooking the Cooper River.

Burke High School senior Syasia Coasum (from left), Rep. Jim Clyburn and former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley all spoke during the groundbreaking ceremony for the International African American Museum. (Photo/Kim McManus)

Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin (right) was among those attending the groundbreaking ceremony for the International African American Museum.

Master of ceremonies George Twopointoh entertained and insprired attendees.

At one point, attendees were asked to hold hands during the solemn groundbreaking.

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SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

November 25-December 8, 2019

A rendering shows how the project’s architects envision the International African American Museum, for which the groundbreaking was held in Charleston last month. (Rendering/Provided)

IAAM exhibits meant to connect visitors to history

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Staff Report

he International African American Museum aims to provide visitors with a comprehensive look at African American history and how it plays into the overall American story.

One of the main features of the museum will be the Center for Family History, where visitors will have access to technology that allows them to trace their ancestry. About half of North America’s enslaved Africans entered through Charleston, with the majority disembarking at Gadsden’s Wharf; millions of African Americans can trace an ancestor back to Charleston.

The Center for Family History will provide guidance to visitors to overcome traditional obstacles to researching African American family history. One such obstacle is the “1870 Brick Wall,” which refers to the fact that prior to 1870, the U.S. census listed only the ages and genders of enslaved men, women and children.

A story booth in the Center for Family History will allow visitors to record oral histories, interview family members or respond to experiences and questions in the museum’s exhibits.

Overlooking Charleston Harbor will be the Atlantic Connections exhibit, a gallery that explores the trans-Atlantic slave trade and its role in shaping the economies and cultures of Atlantic port cities, as well as its part in the formation of modern society.

Atlantic Connections will include panoramic videos that explore Atlantic port cities, a compilation of contemporary and

How it came together January 2000 — Mayor Joe Riley unveils the idea for the International African American Museum during his inaugural address.

June 2006 — Report finds museum could cost $69 million, nearly double the original cost estimate.

August 2006 — Museum names Gretta Middleton its inaugural director of the board.

September 2006 — IAAM board of directors approves strategic plan for museum.

October 2013 — Riley lays out funding plan for $75 million museum, including $12.5 million from the city of Charleston, $12.5 million from Charleston County, $25 million from the state and $25 million from private donors.

March 2015 — Charleston Board of Architectural Review approves design plans for IAAM. March 2016 — Michael Boulware Moore named first CEO of the IAAM. August 2018 — Museum reaches $75 million capital fundraising goal. historical images and footage. The exhibit will also include on the wall facing the video screens a series of maps based on the atlas of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The maps will look at the connections different regions share because of the slave trade and will examine trade volume over time as it relates to North America, Charleston and the growth of slavery in the United States.

A railing in Atlantic Connections will highlight the Middle Passage, with the beginning and end of the rail representing the physical beginning and ending of the journey African captives endured in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The museum said the rail’s development will take “extensive advisory and community input.”

An African Roots gallery will detail the

December 2018 — Museum officials say construction costs have driven up the price of the museum by $10 million and set a new fundraising goal to fill the gap.

August 2019 — Moore steps down as CEO. July 2019 — Charleston City Council approves construction contracts for the museum, clearing the way for construction to begin.

October 2019 — Ground is broken on the International African American Museum

cultures, knowledge and technologies that Africans brought to the Americas through the forced migration of the slave trade. A large-scale map of Africa will highlight regions of origin for enslaved Africans.

Outside the museum will be the African Ancestors Memorial Garden, which former museum CEO Michael Boulware Moore has said is meant to be a separate experience from the exhibits inside. The

space, which will be open to the public, will be a collection of gardens and artistic installations spread across the museum grounds.

The park will include a water feature commemorating the people who died during the Middle Passage, a commemoration of the hundreds who died in a warehouse at Gadsden’s Wharf and sweetgrass basket motifs throughout the space.

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SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

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The South Carolina Aquarium is honored to welcome the International African American Museum (IAAM) to our city’s vibrant east peninsula.

Charleston’s waterfront is a breathtaking historic landscape that holds the history of our city, and the hope of our future.

The Aquarium looks forward to working with the IAAM to share the many stories of our most precious natural resource.

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SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

PROUD TO BE THE BUILDERS OF THIS HISTORIC MUSEUM.

For information, please visit www.buildingiaam.com.

November 25-December 8, 2019

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SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

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Bernard E. Powers Jr., interim CEO of the International African American Museum, said the museum will tell the story of African Americans with the African continent as a background for what enslaved people experienced as they endured the Middle Passage and entered America on the shores of Charleston Harbor. (Photos/Kim McManus)

STORY, from Page 16

trying to get people to understand that black Carolinians, as well as this area, the Lowcountry, has many connections to the larger world outside of the United States and outside of the South.”

Powers said the museum will start the African American story with African background focused mostly on West Africa and Central Africa, the regions of Africa to which Carolinians’ heritage goes back.

“So, there’ll be a treatment of those places’ cultural attributes that are important for understanding the lives of black Carolinians,” Powers said. “But even that is the story that’s hundreds of years old.”

The museum’s narrative is going to come as close to present day as possible.

For example, Powers said the museum will highlight in some way the shooting that happened in 2015 at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. He said the museum’s gallery will feature changing exhibits that could allow for stories on the following topics to be shared: recent issues in police and community relations, and how gentrification has reshaped the character of the black community in downtown Charleston and East Cooper.

Programming sponsored by the museum will provide education on a variety of topics.

John LaVerne, founder of Bulldog Tours in Charleston, said the International African American Museum is going to make a huge impact on Charleston for many reasons, including furthering the dialogue that has been started and will

Rep. Jim Clyburn hopes the museum will be about more than the institution of slavery and will do justice for the people who endured, such as former U.S. Reps. Elijah Cummings and Robert Smalls, and for African Americans who will grow into a better understanding of their story.

help people better tell the African American story.

“I think we’ve gotten better in recent years. I know plantations started to embrace that part of their history,” LaVerne said. “For many years, it’s been swept under the rug. This will take it to a new level. I think it’ll make our tourism a lot better.”

LaVerne said there are few conversations the company’s tour guides could have that would not involve enslaved Africans in some way.

“Everything is tied into the enslaved Africans at some level,” LaVerne said. “It’s absolutely part of what we do.”

He said he thinks the museum will be a huge attraction, drawing different types

of clientele as soon as it opens.

Through his work in the tourism industry, LaVerne said he knows a lot of people all over the world have an interest in the topics that will be highlighted in the museum. He said Bulldog Tours will incorporate the museum in some form, perhaps just by dropping off or picking up groups there.

“I’m super excited about it,” LaVerne said. “I have been since day one. And I applaud Joe Riley’s efforts in making it happen.”

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, who was the first board chairman for the museum, argued that the institution had to be an African American museum and could not just be about slavery.

If the museum was limited to slavery, it would not do justice to people like former U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, who was the great-great-grandson of an S.C. slave, he said.

Clyburn said the museum is going to be about everyone having the opportunity to know the stories of people like Cummings, and of Robert Smalls, a slave who sailed to freedom on a Confederate boat and went on to serve five terms in the U.S. House.

“It has to be about what African Americans are and can be and will be,” Clyburn said.

CRBJ

Reach staff writer Shamira McCray at 843-8493119 or @Shamiratweets on Twitter.

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SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

November 25-December 8, 2019

Museum to share ‘our complete history,’ Riley says

By Shamira McCray

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smccray@scbiznews.com

ormer Charleston Mayor Joe Riley announced plans nearly 20 years ago for a museum in Charleston that would share African American stories. And Riley said he and his staff have worked from that time forward to plan, design, fund and now build the International African American Museum.

“This work of creating a world-class museum is most difficult, as it should be when your work is critically important,” Riley said.

The idea for the museum started with the National Book Award-winning book Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball, Riley said. Ball’s ancestors imported enslaved Africans beginning in 1698 to work on their plantation on the Cooper River, about 20 miles from where the International African American Museum will be built.

Riley said that the book was like a discovery to him, and that the secret, most valuable treasure was long-hidden and forbidden truth — truth that people will now begin to know.

The enslaved people brought to Charleston were formerly free West African citizens, captured in their native lands, sold to slave traders and chained on ships in rows.

Former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley greets a young attendee during the groundbreaking for the International African American Museum, which he championed 20 years ago. (Photo/Kim McManus)

The passage across the Atlantic was harsh, and on average, one-third of the human cargo perished onboard. Many of the survivors were brought to Gadsden’s Wharf in Charleston, sold and taken to an unfamiliar place, often separated from their loved ones forever.

Riley said he realized Charleston had to build a museum to honor the people who were cruelly brought there and whose skills, intellect and work helped build the city and the country.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held

last month for the museum Riley worked for almost two decades to create.

At the ceremony, Riley said the most sorrowful cause of heartbreak was that when enslaved Africans left Gadsden’s Wharf, they changed.

“They thought they would be forgotten,” Riley said. “Today, where that wharf once stood, we reach out over centuries and say this: ‘You are not forgotten. You could never be forgotten. Your heart was too strong. Your spirit too vibrant. Your soul too pure.’”

At the museum, people will learn about the brutality of enslavement and the desire to be free. Riley said they will hear music and prayers by African Americans and be moved by art, including delicate wrought iron and sweetgrass baskets. Through the museum, African Americans will tell of the celebration of emancipation, the cruel arrival of Jim Crow and how they marched and protested, among other things.

“We have so much to learn from you,” Riley said. “Here, your stories will make us cringe in harrow and weep with sadness.

And your courage will inspire us. And your achievements will cause our hearts to soar.”

One such story is that of an enslaved African who was sold on Gadsden’s Wharf to work on a plantation about 70 miles away, Riley said. His great-great-great granddaughter would become the first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.

“The stories will enlighten us, help us, change us and challenge our country, for that hidden vault is finally and forever unlocked,” Riley said. “We will now know for the first time our complete history, your history, your story — the truth. And we must believe that it is the truth that will set us free.”

CRBJ

Reach staff writer Shamira McCray at 843-8493119 or @Shamiratweets on Twitter.

Proud supporters of the

Rendering of the IAAM via iaamuseum.org

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SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

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Charleston’s ties to Sierra Leone began at Bunce Island

By Shamira McCray smccray@scbiznews.com

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ayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr of Freetown, Sierra Leone, said the story to be told at Charleston’s International African American Museum is relevant not only on this side of the Atlantic; it is a story the world needs to hear.

Aki-Sawyerr spoke last month at the groundbreaking ceremony for the museum. Freetown, the nation’s capital, is nearly 35 minutes by boat from Bunce Island, from which many captives were exported.

Aki-Sawyerr said about 90% of the captives taken from Bunce Island landed on Charleston’s Gadsden’s Wharf, the site where the museum is now being built.

She said that is how the original connection between Freetown and Charleston started.

“In 1792, a number of freed slaves made their way from Nova Scotia to Freetown to start a new life there,” Aki-Sawyerr said. “That group included my grandfather — great-great-great, five times — grandfather, who returned to Africa, settled in Freetown and became the group now known as the

Freetown, Sierra Leone, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr talks about historic and modern connections between her city and the city of Charleston during the groundbreaking ceremony. (Photo/Kim McManus)

Creoles of Sierra Leone.”

Aki-Sawyerr said she was thrilled to be part of the groundbreaking ceremony for the museum, as the mayor of Freetown and as a Creole, because it will tell stories of many journeys: of people who landed and stayed in the United States,

of those who moved to different parts of the country and of the ones who found their way back to Africa.

“But, significantly, this museum will not just tell stories of the past, of journeys concluded,” Aki-Sawyerr said. “But it will also enable the

start of other journeys and new stories. It will enable reconnections of people separated by time and by water.”

Charleston City Council passed a resolution on July 16 that joined the city in a partnership with Freetown through Sister Cities International designed to foster and strengthen relations and provide benefits to both communities.

The resolution said the council endorses the program with the hope that it will lead to a lasting friendship with the people of Freetown and opportunities to cultivate relationships in economic and trade development, tourism, historical exchanges and other opportunities.

Aki-Sawyerr said that she is committed to strengthening the relationship with Charleston and that Freetown is committed to telling the story that the International African American Museum will share.

The museum plans to highlight the story of enslaved Africans’ journey from West Africa to Charleston, the cruelty they endured and their contributions to America.

CRBJ

Reach staff writer Shamira McCray at 843-8493119 or @Shamiratweets on Twitter.

Young Clement Rivers, LLP welcomes

THE INTERNATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM! The history of Africans who arrived in Charleston, the influence they, and their descendants had, and continue to have, upon the life and culture of Charleston and communities throughout the world, will be told through the programs of the IAAM. YCRLAW is proud of the many years that Wilbur E. Johnson, our Managing Partner, and IAAM Board Chair, has spent participating in the effort to create this important institution.

It affirms one of the law firm’s core values; service to the community in which we are privileged to reside.

25 Calhoun Street, Suite 400 • Charleston, SC 29401 Phone: 843-577-4000 www.ycrlaw.com

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www.charlestonbusiness.com

SPECIAL REPORT: International African American Museum

November 25-December 8, 2019

Promises in Action Dominion Energy is humbled and honored to bring The International African American Museum (IAAM) to light in Charleston, South Carolina.

The vision of the museum is to illuminate the influential histories of Africans that entered America through Charleston and celebrate some of the country’s leading thinkers, businesspeople, artists, musicians and heroes.

At Dominion Energy, we believe in understanding our history and where we have been so we can all come together, move forward and work to make our homes, lives and communities better.

DominionEnergy.com/Foundation