On the final day of the immersion week, students from AU and KU Leuven returned to the National Mall to visit the National Museum of African American History & Culture. The museum building itself is a sight to behold, but of course, it's what's on the inside that the group was most excited to see. Traveling through the many floors, the group saw the exhibits on African-American music, culture, and sports, with pieces like the famous Bryonna Taylor portrait, Jackie Robinson's baseball jersey, and the dress worn by Oprah on her final show. Then there were the exhibits on the history of African Americans serving in the armed forces, the origins of Black fraternities and sororities, and the many Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The bottom floors of the museum, called the Concourse, are the most popular part of the museum; the day the group visited, there was an hour-long wait to get inside to see the History Galleries housed there. Moving through history, the first exhibits chronicle the transatlantic slave trade and the atrocities committed during that centuries-long period of human trafficking by sea, as well as the colonial period. The next stage covers how African Americans fared during the first two centuries after the American Revolution and what would come after the Civil War. The final floors of the Concourse told the story of the Civil Rights Movement, and of people like John Lewis, Rosa Parks, and Emmett Till. The very last piece in the exhibit is a photograph from President Barack Obama's first inauguration. A reminder that will the nation has come very far in the last few centuries, there is still work to be done.
Rescheduled from the previous day due to some logistical challenges. The students went back to the US Capitol area, this time for a meeting with staffers from the House Foreign affairs committee. Meeting in the committee hearing room at the well-known Rayburn Office building, the group had the chance to learn about how the House conducts its foreign policy work from the committee level, and how the roles of committees vary based on the rules, customs, and jurisdictions of the different components within the Legislative Branch.
On Saturday afternoon, April 9, some of the KU Leuven students returned to Belgium, while others chose to stay in the US for a bit longer, and enjoy the rest of the Easter holiday in DC, New York and even Philadelphia!
Another great week of immersion and enjoyment. Hopefully, this won't be the last time the students of Reimagining the Transatlantic Order get to see each other in person.
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