An email I received on August 28 from the National Museum of African American History and Culture was titled: How today’s date changed America again and again. Yeah, I know – it refuses to be ordinary.
“Marked by eventfulness, it appears and reappears across nearly two centuries of history’s most complex turning points, carrying with it profound grief and extraordinary hope, sometimes simultaneously.
“On that day in 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was murdered in Mississippi, a crime that ignited the modern Civil Rights Movement.” I’ve been writing about Emmett Till every five years since I started this blog, most recently in 2025.
“Eight years later, at the historic March on Washington, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and invited the nation to imagine a more just future together.” I have written about many MLK speeches; most of them are quite powerful. Admittedly, the “I have a dream” portion of the 1963 speech has become a cliché and/or manipulated to change its meaning, while the earlier parts are largely forgotten.
“And in 2008, Sen. Barack Obama became the first African American to accept a major party nomination for president of the United States on the same day when Dr. King told America about his dream 45 years earlier.
“All on August 28. History has had a way of returning to this day.”
I didn’t know this part
“As the National Museum of African American History and Culture prepared for its anticipated opening in 2016, Founding Director Dr. Lonnie G. Bunch III wanted the journey of everyone who entered to begin with a story. He commissioned Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay to create an introductory film that would welcome visitors into what he has often called ‘the people’s Museum.’
“The invitation, DuVernay later said, was unlike any she had ever received. Dr. Bunch gave her unrestricted trust to tell a story she believed everyone needed to experience as they crossed the Museum’s threshold. Given that freedom, she chose not to tell four centuries of history chronologically. Instead, DuVernay—a self-described history buff—centered her film on one extraordinary date that fascinated her.
“August 28: A Day in the Life of a People is a 22-minute meditation on the magnitude of African American history, told in moments knitted together with poetry, performance and memory. Featuring an ensemble cast of luminaries including Don Cheadle, Regina King, Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo, the film traces pivotal moments across generations to reveal how history’s greatest triumphs and deepest tragedies share the same page on the calendar.
“Its indelible imagery reflects the mission of the Museum. Each object, photograph, oral history, and work of art preserved here is another thread in that shared story.”
If I did this correctly, you should be able to see the film HERE. And while you’re at it, visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture as it celebrates its tenth anniversary if you can. Meanwhile, check out the NMAAHC YouTube page.