James Baldwin wrote unapologetically about the internal warring among many African Americans to belong to and claim a home that despised, disregarded, or limited their rights as citizens. In Paris, Baldwin was offered a reprieve for the racial and sexual discrimination he faced.

#OnThisDay in 1961, Barack Obama was born. After serving as a senator for Illinois, he was elected 44th President of the United States and served from 2009 to 2017. #APeoplesJourney #ANationsStory

James Baldwin took pride in the struggle for personhood and civil rights that a new generation of Black college students undertook in the 1960s. “They are not the first Negroes to face mobs: they are merely the first Negroes to frighten the mob more than the mob frightens them.”

#OnThisDay in 1965, Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act to enforce the 15th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. #APeoplesJourney

Join international poetry slam champion, Anthony McPherson, for this virtual poetry workshop exploring James Baldwin's poems, essays, and writing techniques, and employ them so that your writing articulates an honest view of the world. More info: s.si.edu/4d4XrGg

Due to mechanical issues impacting our operations, our museum is closed today, August 8. If you have passes to visit today, your passes may be used another day: s.si.edu/3WbDCai

Though James Baldwin embraced France as the seat of his creativity, the tumult of civil disobedience unfolding across America stirred Baldwin to journey home. Baldwin toured throughout the South, challenging audiences to embrace equality and end the volatility of racial violence.

#OnThisDay in 1887, Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey was born. Garvey spent his life urging pride in African identity & advocated for emigration to Africa. #APeoplesJourney

#OTD in 1920, the #19thAmendment was ratified, stating that the right to vote couldn’t be denied based on sex. However, Black women, amongst other marginalized communities, still faced barriers to voting, including waiting hours to register, violence, tests and more.

James Baldwin understood the power of his words to heal, educate, transform, and defend the rights of the marginalized. Baldwin wrote commentaries, novels, plays, and poetry, each stoking controversy and exploring the cultural and structural biases he encountered.

#OTD in 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi. Kidnapped, tortured and beaten nearly to death his face was mutilated beyond recognition, and he could only be identified by his ears and an engraved ring.

#OnThisDay in 1963, the #MarchOnWashington for Jobs and Freedom brought nearly 250,000 people to the nation’s capital to protest racial discrimination and show support for civil rights legislation pending in Congress.

This #LaborDay, we honor the heroic efforts of American workers participating in labor movements. In response to African American exclusion from labor organizations, Black workers created all-Black unions that championed their members’ class & racial interests. #ANationsStory

To every individual, every family, each group small or large, each community who has made the trip to our museum to learn, engage, question, challenge, celebrate and absorb – we see you, and we thank you. #ANationsStory #APeoplesJourney