About

AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM & CULTURAL CENTER

“History in the making.”

MISSION & VISION

The mission of the African American Heritage Museum & Cultural Center is to build a world class institution that honors the past, embraces the present and inspires and facilitates the molding of the future.

The African American Heritage Museum and Cultural Center (AAHMCC) was founded to promote and preserve the history, culture, traditions and achievements of African Americans. It will serve as a focal point for African Americans of all generations as well as the broader community to celebrate and to share an appreciation and reverence for the African diaspora, through exhibits, tours, research, educational programs, performances, cultural activities and social services.

PROJECT SUMMARY

The effort to build the African American Heritage Museum & Cultural Center was a proactive response to the negative conditions existing in the African American community. These conditions, including disproportionate levels of broken homes, crime, academic failure, drugs, violence, incarceration, unemployment and lack of economic development are a direct result of the cultural and socio-economic damages caused by the African Holocaust commonly referred to as the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the institutionalized oppression of African peopled that followed.

The museum will promote an understanding of the distinct and unique contributions made by Africans and African Americans locally, nationally and internationally. Simultaneously, it will provide and house educational programs in the arts and heritage disciplines that foster positive, experiential learning alternatives for youth, and social services for people of all ages.

THE FACILITY

As a repository for the stories and artifacts of African American culture, the museum represents the identity of a people whose contributions to the economic, political and cultural life of the region, nation and world have been under-represented and undervalued.

The facility will include traditional gallery and multi-media exhibit space, state of the art audio and video production facilities, community based radio and television production facilities, movie theater, youth and community businesses, natural health clinic, bookstore, childcare/independent school and more. Through innovative program models in arts and technology seek to address issues plaguing our youth including low academic achievement, crime, violence and incarceration.

The driving principles of our vision are:

  • Restoration, healing, growth and prosperity for the Black community
  • Honoring past and embracing future by cultivating the history makers of today and tomorrow.

This vision for the AAHM&CC is to be a world class facility and an epicenter of cultural and economic activity for Seattle’s African American community.  Ideas for the center include:

  • Permanent exhibits providing visitors with an experience of the African American history in Seattle and the northwest.
  • Traditional galleries and multi-media exhibit space
  • Performance Hall/Auditorium
  • Movie Theatre
  • Center for Hip-Hop Culture Business & Technology
  • Enterprise Clinic/Small Business Incubator
  • Digital media lab
  • Audio Recording Studio
  • Video production studios
  • Community Based Radio & Television Stations
  • Fashion Design Center
  • Restaurant/café & Culinary Training
  • Retail Stores and/or Kiosks (incubator for retail to outgrow space)
    • Media Store (Books/CDs/DVDs)
    • Clothing Store
  • Artist Studios
  • Green Living Resource Center
  • Organic Community Garden
  • Urban Sports Marketing Academy
  • Product Design Center
  • Chess Academy
  • Science & Engineering Academy
  • Natural Health Clinic
  • Early Childhood Development Center
  • Home school & Independent Resource Center
  • K-12 School
  • African Diaspora Exchange Program
  • Women’s Wellness Center
  • Mental Health Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation
  • Trade School and worker organizing program
  • Senior housing construction and placement strategy center

Current Programming

Current projects and program offerings include the continuing development of the UmojaFest P.E.A.C.E. Center in central Seattle, summer youth employment and the Museum Without Walls Program which sponsors numerous events including the annual Umoja Fest African American Heritage Festival & Parade Celebration in August. Other events include concerts, lectures, Community Growth & Development Conference in honor of Malcolm X, art workshops and more.

A beacon of light, the African American Heritage Museum & Cultural Center will be a place to remember the struggles, successes and achievements of African Americans, provide creative opportunities for new and emerging artists and innovators, and showcase the artistic achievements of African Americans locally, nationally and internationally.