By Margaret Hicks
Eagle Staff Writer
mhicks@theoklahomaeagle.net
The Black History Mobile 101 Museum (BHM101M) opened at Greenwood Cultural Center (GCC) last Sunday, March 26, 2017. This was the second-time founder and curator Dr. Khalid el-Hakim brought the museum to GCC. The exhibits will be on display daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Thursday, March 30. On hand with el-Hakim for opening day was actress Hayley Marie Norman, who spoke on Gender, Race, and Hollywood. State Rep. Regina Goodwin was on board with the Mount Carmel youth group.
The Exhibits
Hundreds of original artifacts are on display that date from slavery through the Martin Luther King, Jr., Motown Records, and Michael Jackson era.
Some of the pieces from slavery include shackles, a bull whip, tethers, slave bills of sale and documents signed by Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver, alligator bait post cards, 8 track tapes and 45 rpm records.
Thee 3M’s Exhibit: Martin, Motown and Michael include LPs (long playing records), Jet and other magazines, photographs and posters. What’s the connection? Motown records released Martin Luther King, Jr.’s The Great March to Freedom speech in 1963 and Michael Jackson’s life and music was a reflection of MLK’s philosophy of an integrated America.
There is also a video presentation of various Motown artists running.
Rep. Goodwin said of the youth group form Mount Carmel, they “learned about Motown, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and the Jackson Five. Someone asked if the Jackson Five were New Edition and if Diana Ross was Whitney Houston. They saw original artwork from the Jackson Five cartoon (brought back memories). Good to watch history passed on to the next generation.”
Another group of youth was also impacted. There are five of them (however, only the four younger ones were at the exhibit) and their last name is Jackson. They are 20, 10, seven, and two of them are six.
They know the name and music of The Jackson Five, and Michael Jackson, they had no idea that the black child they were looking at the beginning of the exhibit grew up to be the white man at the right end of the exhibit. These same children who, until now, have only known a black man to be president of the United States.
Gender, Race, and Hollywood
Hayley Marie Norman is an American film and television actress known for numerous roles including Top Five, Fired Up, Hancock, Beyond the Lights, Trailer Park of Terror, Our Family Wedding, and Norbit. She shared with the audience some of the obstacles she faces in Hollywood which bar her from getting prime roles; her hair and skin color being the major obstacles. Haley wears a full head of natural tresses reminiscent of Angel Davis’ locks, and she is café au lait (light brown) complected.
