Museum Summary Kismet African American Heritage Museum
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MUSEUM SUMMARY KISMET AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM The Kismet African American Heritage Museum will be a natural museum of African American History and Culture committed to share the life stories of an African American people, led by architect designer Lessie Esynzor a native New Yorker. Nestled in the quaint community of Pacoima, California directly across from the Discovery Cube Museum will sit the design building on 15 acres of land totalling 653,400 square feet. It’s convenient location is surrounded by several colleges, middle school magnet programs, libraries, shopping malls, theaters and restaurants. Spanning four floors, our self-guided tour will offer a chronological narrative of the tragic effects of slavery in America. Throughout the visitors journey, they will explore through thousands of artifacts, documents, photos, audios, videos and other collections. Our more than 12 exhibitions, 13 interactive stations, theaters, libraries and lecture halls will engage our audience in a never to be forgotten history of an African people from slavery to freedom of the African Americans. The entrance of the museum will walk us through the doors of the architect and sculptures of the Dogan tribe, one of Africa’s most fascinating tribes that mysteriously vanished. They were best known for their mask dances, wooden sculptures and architect. Their art has remained the most authentic on the African continent. These doors will portray ancestral figures that once protected the people of the village and their families. The first patent on the door knob was in 1878, by an African freed slave, an inventor named Osbourne Dorsey. Our door knobs will reflect his African art. Above the entrance the words “One World Two Doors” will be written which represents the door of no return and the door of new beginnings. KISMET AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM 1 The museum foyer will be a mural of an elephant named Raju, beautifully engraved in the marble flooring. A cascade of water will flow from his eyes into exotic ponds at each side of him. This will set the ambience for the museum. This mural speaks of Raju’s 50 years in chained bondage. When freed among a waiting crowd, a photographer captured his tears as he ran towards a herd of other elephants. The story of Raju will represent the years of bondage of the indigenous African people. Given the history of the African and African American, we too shall weep until all are freed, especially those in the Motherland and the African American. A contribution of coins will be thrown into the ponds to express an extension of ourselves to not only the trials of the people, but also to the preservation of extinction of animals in Africa’s rainforest. We believe our support to this cause will heighten awareness to the concern and safety of these animals. Moving beyond the foyer of the museum, visitors will explore with their children the amazing history of Africa and African American people. We will provide popular and wide ranging interactive entertainment activities with consideration in design creations for cognitive skills development in children. Our exhibits will be vast in exploration of African wildlife. Our display rooms will show The Most Beautiful Birds of Africa and their Top Ten Strangest Animals of the World. Visitors will also be fascinated with our Charles Drew Medical and Science Lab. They will learn about African American scientists and inventors with hands-on participation with this interactive exhibit. Children and their families will find enjoyment in the Children’s Library and Study Room, All the real fun and entertainment will be in WeeTown, a designed interactive station and simulated community which presents a sense of home and community activities for families, as well as an educational experience. Here is where we enjoy family and gain a greater understanding on the importance of family values which was always a tradition of the African culture and the African American Mom, dad and KISMET AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM 2 children can go fishing in a pond using magnetic fishing poles to catch beautiful East African colored fish such as the pink cichlids, the violet, red and orange sea goldie, the powder blue surgeon and the zebra lionfish. Young boys can also mow the lawn while learning the history of John Albert Burr who invented the lawn mower. WeeTown visitors can enjoy the mechanics shop where the boys can put tires on a safe and durable plastic car, learn where the engine and transmission goes and also install a radio that will play for them. The car will be made of soybeans like that of the 1942 invention by George Washington Carver. WeeTown will also have a designed kitchen with a puzzle carved out onto the walls where children learn to place all the items such cups, plates and flatware. They will also learn table setting skills and if they make an error, a light will go off indicating the error. This design is for children ages 2 to 3. It’s a cognitive skill set where children will learn shapes and sizes. They will also learn to hang curtains and make the bed. Children can visit the beautiful flower patch where they learn about the different flowering plants that are indigenous to the tropical dry forest of West Africa. They can practice ironing or drying clothes with the ironing board or dryer invented by an African American woman Sarah Boone. Our next visitors journey will be the Cultural and Science Puzzle Zone. Here is where children can dig for precious gemstones from Africa to learn and identify their colors, shape and value. Using anatomically correct magnets, children will learn to place magnets on the body that identifies the race and culture of a people and social status. They will use the magnets to identify different ages to the appropriate bodies. We believe this will promote both hand and eye coordination and inspire crucial and linear thinking. Example: Would a child put white face on an African American body, or a young face on an older body? Would they put the face of a man that appears rich on the body of a man that’s dressed poorly? KISMET AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM 3 The Rainforest exhibit will allow visitors to walk through and swing with the animatronic monkeys and other animals that will pop up from the brushes or crawl onto the rocks. Children will be asked to share with us what they learned about the Rainforest. They can tell us of their experience in a written letter that can be mailed to the museum and the story that’s best told will afford the winner the opportunity for discounts and prizes upon their next visit. This creates a desire for them to return. Our Waste Management exhibit will probably be the most rewarding experience for the children. They will learn about inventions such as the first toilet. trash can, garbage disposal, incinerator and trash truck and the introduction a pretend city called Rookeezville.. The children will see an interesting display of how Benjamin Franklin in 1792 used slaves to carry Philadelphia’s waste downstream. There will be small exhibits showing how the pigs roamed freely in Washington DC to eat the garbage and slop left in the alleys and streets. Rats and cockroaches infested most dwellings including The White House. In 1866 New York’s Metropolitan Board of Health declared a war on garbage forbidding the throwing of dead animals, garbage and ashes into the streets. In the 1880s many Americans still believe that the disease such as Typhoid fever was caused by gases coming from garbage and sewers. Also in that same year, in New York City scavengers removed more than 15,000 horse carcasses from the streets. In 1885, 180 garbage disposals and incinerators were built in the United States. The 1900s began a new era of dealing with trash. There were over 3 million horses working in American cities, producing over 20 lbs of manure, and gallons of urine every day , most of which was left on the street. This is when American cities began to estimate and record collected waste and small and medium sized towns built piggeries where swine were fed fresh and cooked garbage. It was reported that 75 pigs would eat through a ton of garbage per day. In 1937, George Dempster invented the first wheeled garbage truck. The Waste Management exhibit KISMET AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM 4 will be the largest in the museum. The children will ride in a virtual garbage truck that allows them not only to visit garbage landfills and waste management refuse plants, but also the pretend city of Rookeezville. Rookeezville, is a go-green community. The simulated garbage trucks will be able to flash spotlights on sections of the city where you ‘ll see two of the characters Freckles and Moose who are neighbors taking the trash out. We will see how the trash that was unfortunately dropped on the ground by Freckles, goes down the sewage drain, killing both fish and beautiful dolphins. This is all actually just a nightmare he has because of his neglect to properly dispose of the trash. In this dream scene his family, cat and dog will be swept away by the monstrous Garbage Gobblers that are huge balls with trash attached to them and threaten to take over the city if not stopped. Freckles is awakened from his dream by the vision of his little sister with the remote control to his video game. When Freckles goes to school, he shares his story of what happened, and all laugh except Hoops, who tells them about his grandmother who is ill with malaria because of the toxic waste from the improper disposal of trash.