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We will take a full day to travel from Kalamazoo, Michigan across the state to Detroit in order to visit the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. We will spend about three and a half hours at the museum itself. During our time there , students will first learn about the history of the museum itself, including information about the "Ring of Genealogy," an amazing work of art in the building's rotunda. The students stand in a circle, looking at the names of influential African Americans inscribed into a brass ring on the ground. Students then go on a guided tour of the main exhibit "And Still We Rise: Our Journey Through African American History and Culture," which includes an emotionally moving walk through a recreated slave ship. During the remaining time, participants on this field trip have time to explore other exhibits, including "Inspiring Minds: African Americans in Science and Technology." In helping fund this trip, you will provide these students the opportunity to immerse themselves in a cultural experience that is unlike anything they can experience in the classroom. Students emerge from this museum with a stronger sense of empathy for the people who have come before them, as well as a deeper understanding about those experiences. One student who went on this trip in the past reflected: "I highly recommend that future 9th graders go on this field trip! This trip opened my eyes to exactly how intense the slave trade was and how upsetting segregation actually was to everyone involved. African American history used to be just a bunch of statistics and facts to me, now it is so much more than that. I respect that entire aspect of history so much more and I know so much more now."
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