First Impressions of The Museum For Black Girls
What is the Museum for Black Girls?
The Museum for Black Girls is an organization that seeks to preserve and celebrate the history of African American women. The museum was founded in Washington DC in 2019 by photographer and set designer, Charlie Billingsley.
The Museum for Black Girls' mission is to “each guest to leave the experience feeling motivated and inspired to create their own beautiful stories and history.”They do this by providing opportunities for artists from diverse backgrounds to showcase their work in an engaging environment that encourages visitors to learn more about themselves through various forms of mediums.
The Importance of Celebrating Black Women
The museum is an important place to celebrate black women. It's important to recognize and celebrate the contributions of our foremothers, as well as how far we've come since then. The museum highlights some of the most influential black women in history, including Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks.
The Museum for Black Girls also offers a space where young girls can learn about themselves through art exhibits and interactive installations. This helps them understand their own identity as well as see themselves reflected in these powerful figures from history who fought against oppression so that we could live freely today.
As you stroll through this beautiful space filled with exhibits from different artists, you'll find yourself reflecting on all that has happened over the course of history --and how much more there is still left to do!
My Visit to the Museum for Black Girls
I visited the Museum for Black Girls in Washington DC on a nice Friday evening, and I was not disappointed. I went with my friend Dasia. We had a lot to talk about as we walked through the exhibits.
The first thing I noticed when we entered the space was how cute it was. The layout made sense; everything seemed to flow together seamlessly from one area to another without feeling too crowded or overwhelming. The overall vibe was welcoming and inviting: there were plenty of places where visitors could read up on women that have made history and take photo-ops.
The exhibition itself focused heavily on identity formation through media representation over time. This included Women that we have been made to be very aware of such as MIchelle Obama the first lady or Madame CJ Walker. I thoroughly enjoyed this exhibition because it also gave flowers to when we don't hear about it as much , such as Rose Morgan who was the owner and operator of the largest beauty parlor for African American Women. One of my favorites was a wall collage of so many magazine covers of beautiful black women from different publications from different decades. I honestly didn't realize how many I remembered or saw before, it definitely felt like a core memory unlocked to recognize them. My other favorites were the spaces that paid homage to black hair like the beauty salon experience of sitting under the dryer in grandma's kitchen with the hot comb. While I personally didn't experience the hot comb era, I also think that goes to show how far we’ve come with the development of hair. After we soaked in the museum, we took pictures of course and headed to dinner. We sat next door to the food hall and grabbed purple tacos which were surprisingly good. Overall, I really enjoyed the experience and I would definitely go back. They also host events like yoga, sip and paints and business expos. You check out their instagram for more information!