America I AM

Tavis Smiley wears many hats. He is a best-selling author, PBS TV and NPR Talk Show Host, a film producer/director and last year, was added to TIME magazine's list of “The World’s 100 Most Influential People.”

Now Smiley can add curator to his list of accomplishments. Smiley's groundbreaking exhibition, America I AM, The African American Imprint is now on view at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. The exhibit, celebrates nearly 500 years of African-American contributions to our country and the world. Smiley is the presenter and creative force behind this unprecedented traveling exhibition, which will tour the country for four years, celebrating the extraordinary impact of African American contributions as told through rare artifacts, memorabilia, and multimedia.

Smiley said on his weekly radio show on Public Radio International, that he wanted “America I Am” to be the “biggest, baddest, boldest exhibition ever to tell the story of the African-American contribution in this country.”

To do this, he coaxed John Fleming, Director Emeritus of Museums, at the Cincinnati Museum Center, out of retirement to serve as Executive Producer.

He also called on celebrity friends. He received permission from TV icon Norman Lear to exhibit his rare copy of the Declaration of Independence, which Lear purchased for more than $8 million. He also asked basketball icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson and musician Prince, among others he has interviewed, for personal items to display.

Highlights include the robe boxer Muhammad Ali wore as he trained in Kinshasa, Zaire, for the famous Rumble in the Jungle fight in 1974. Ali defeated world heavyweight champion George Foreman to reclaim his former title.

“Doors of No Return” are the weathered wooden doors, on loan from the country of Ghana. Slaves passed through these doors from a dungeon-like holding area to a ship where they were transported in shackles to the New World. There's Rosa Park’s fingerprint card from her 1955 arrest in Mongomery, Ala. and other Civil Rights Memorabilia.

America I Am is an historic 'must see' exhibition of summer!

 

Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West at Cincinnati Museum Center
Free public dialogue and Q/A regarding American I AM: The African American Imprint exhibit


Join Tavis Smiley , noted broadcaster and creator of the America I AM exhibit, and Dr. Cornel West, professor at Princeton University and exhibit advisor,10 a.m., Saturday, July 31 at Cincinnati Museum Center to discuss and celebrate African Americans' undeniable imprint on America's history. Prior to the conversation, Smiley and West will install the only touring print of the Declaration of Independence dating back to July 4, 1776 into the exhibit.

This print of the Declaration - a "broadside" sheet printed in Philadelphia only hours after Jefferson was finished drafting the language - will be displayed at the Cincinnati Museum Center from July 31, 2010 until October 2, 2010. This print is one of only 26 known to exist. It was found in 1989 in the back of a picture frame bought for $4 at a Pennsylvania flea market. It was purchased by noted television producer Norman Lear and his wife, Lyn, for $8.1 million in 2000, with the goal of bringing "the people's document" directly to the American people. The award-winning America I AM exhibit has partnered with Lear's youth voter registration organization, Declare Yourself, to include the document in the exhibit.



Agenda:

9:30 a.m. - (Media Only) Unveiling of the Declaration of Independence with

Tavis Smiley & Dr. Cornel West



10 - 11 a.m. - Free & Open to Public America I AM dialogue featuring Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West.

Register at tavis@cincymuseum.org or 513/287-7090.



Developed in partnership with broadcaster Tavis Smiley and organized by Arts and Exhibitions International and Cincinnati Museum Center, America I AM attempts to answer a famous question put forth by African American scholar W.E.B. DuBois: "Would America have been America without her Negro people?" This is done via a collection more than 250 rare and unique artifacts; these include Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his inspirational "Letter from (a) Birmingham Jail," Prince's Super Bowl XLI guitar and police fingerprint card from Rosa Parks' arrest – the incident often credited as the start of the Civil Rights movement.


America I AM is on display now through Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011. Tickets are $12 adults, $11 seniors (age 60 or older) and $8 children (ages 3-12). Member tickets are $8 adults and $5 children. The exhibit is made possible by Walmart Stores, Inc., which serves as its presenting sponsor. Northern Trust serves as the exhibition's educational partner. Microsoft is the technology partner for the tour.


Locally, America I AM at the Cincinnati Museum Center is supported by the generosity and community partnership of Fifth Third Bank, Enquirer Media, Radio One, WCPO-TV, CET Connect, the Cincinnati Reds, The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./US Bank Foundation, Duke Energy, Cincinnati Bell, Toyota and the Marriott RiverCenter.
For more information, call (513) 287-7000 or visit the Web site at www.cincymuseum.org.