It's African history like we've never seen it. Thanks to the creative geniuses over at Chicago's DuSable Museum of African American History, we get to see the story of Olaudah Equiano with a little 21st-century twist. The museum has created a new "Equiano" exhibit that tells the 11-year-old's story as if he was a viral blogger. And trust us, it's definitely worth the hype.
The exhibit focuses on the famous story of Olaudah Equiano, a young boy who was kidnapped from his West African village and enslaved back in 1756. Recognize the story? That's because it's also told in the book he self-published titled, The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African, as Published by Himself. But with the new technological twist, it allows us to take a peek into his life like never before. And the folks over at DuSable put a lot of effort into the exhibit that is now being seen all over the world. "We deal with the part when he's 11 years old," Kim Dulaney, director of education and programs at the museum, explained. "That's what's different. He talks about his family before slavery... he goes on to tell his story about how he found ways to make money, bought his freedom back, then published his own book through crowdfunding."
'This is Black history; this is our real origin story," said the museum's president. "This is a story that has been taught in Black studies and in literature forever, but it's never been popularized." But that's not the only thing that makes this new exhibit unlike any other. They've also made sure this story takes history to a viral level, thanks to Instagram. The entire exhibit is uploaded in the form of stories - 80 minutes in total - so people can learn this important tale no matter where they are.
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Want to check it out for yourself? You can see all of the Black Boy Magic over at @Equiano.Stories and see what the hype is about. And be sure to check back soon as we keep you posted on all the need-to-know content going viral.
