The Flickr Nationalmuseumofafricanamericanhistoryandculture Image Generatr

I had long heard so many great things about the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened only 9 years ago, in 2016, that this was actually at the top of my list of things to see this visit to Washington, D.C. (yes, even higher than the Washington Monument! though I won't deny that one was a very close second).

The museum is, of course, amazing. The permanent exhibits, which do a spectacular job of contextualizing the ancestral history of present-day African Americans with the transatlantic slave trade through the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras, are so packed with information it's almost overwhelming—yet deeply engaging, sobering, in many cases tactile. These exhibits occupy three levels that go beneath the ground floor, and you go to the bottom floor (which was packed with people—hence the need for timed-entry tickets, which are not needed at many of the other major museums) and work your way up. Then there are three levels above ground, which house more cultural and temporary exhibits, ranging from history with more specific context (there's an incredible 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre exhibit) to art exhibits.

We were inside the museum for a solid three hours, and we explored all six levels, but kind of rushed through some of them, especially the upper floors. Like so many of the museums on the National Mall, you could go back many times and ingest plenty of new information. If I ever do go back to visit Washington, D.C. again, however long it may be, this museum will again be at the top of my list, as I would absolutely go back.

I also feel compelled to note that I love the architecture of the building, which unsurprisingly was designed with a great deal of intention. The structure, as you can see above, is especially beautiful at night.

Mothership (Capsule), Jefferson Piner

Freedom T-shirt, Jammie Holmes

Untitled (To Be Young, Gifted and Black), Jeffrey Kent

African-American Flag, David Hammons